Black Thunder Shadows
by ULTRA SONIC
Summary: Even though there are now five rangers, Mesogog has no intention of backing down, and with Elsa's help, he plans a way to force their hand. And just when things couldn't get anymore complicated, a dear friend of Tommy's unexpectely returns...
1. Prologue: Foggy Dreams

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers Dino Thunder. They are the property of the Walt Disney Company/Buena Vista Entertainment.

Author's Note: This fic was inspired by the episodes, "A season to remember", "There's no business like snow business", "Hawaii Zeo" and the fic "Amends" by Leap Of Fate. Now this fic was actually an idea that I had floating around in my head for a while, but I couldn't seem to find the spark to put it down on paper. But then after I saw a couple of DT episodes in addition to hearing songs from Hall & Oates, Berlin, Foreigner, Five for Fighting and several others, I got my inspiration. (Besides, I was getting really sick and tired of this never-ending ocean of Tommy/Kim fics.)

This is the first time I've ever done a fanfic at all, so any reviews (or flames) would be appreciated.

Also, This takes place a few weeks after "The Passion of Conner" and "Isn't it lava-ly".

Prologue

_Empty faces fill me up with holes_

_Distant faces with no place left to go_

_Without you within me I can't find no rest_

_Where I'm going is anybody's guess_

_I try to go on like I never knew you_

_I'm awake when my world is half asleep_

_I pray for this heart to be unbroken_

_But without you all I'm going to be is incomplete_

"Incomplete"

Performed by the Backstreet Boys

From the album Never Gone

--

The glass was right there in front of him.

He couldn't see anything else. Other than the glass mirror, there was nothing else he could see, except fog and his own refection in the mirror.

His reflection then vanished, only to be replaced by images of himself.

He looked closer, and saw what looked like images of his adolescent life. It was as if he was watching a movie with the MUTE button on.

He saw himself arriving in the city of Angel Grove during his sophomore year…sparring off with Jason during a karate competition…then when he first met _her_.

_Not this,_ Tommy Oliver thought to himself. _Anything but this._ Almost as if it heard him, the mirror then switched to another image of when he was captured by Rita Repulsa and then given the Green Power Coin, thus transforming into the Evil Green Power Ranger. The image then switched to when he battled the other Rangers and mopped the floor with them every single time…to when Jason destroyed the Sword of Darkness, releasing Tommy from Rita's spell and adding a new Ranger to the team. Then it showed him losing his powers…regaining them only to lose them again to Lord Zedd…

_What the hell is this? Is this some kind of nightmare or something? Why am I seeing this?_

Suddenly the mirror showed him becoming the new White Ranger…to when Kat appeared in his life…to Kimberly losing her power coin. The image then changed to where Kat confessed what she had done…to where Kim gave her Pink Power Coin to Kat, making her the newest Pink Ranger. Then it went to Kat trying to comfort him after he received "The Letter"…to Kat bidding a sad goodbye to him before leaving for London…

_Stop! I can't watch anymore of this!_ Tommy screamed in his mind. He then tried to smash the mirror with a karate kick, but just as the blow was about to connect, the mirror disappeared.

_Where did it go?_

"Tommy." A voice spoke.

Tommy then turned around to see where the voice was coming from, but he saw nothing.

"Tommy."

He heard the voice say his name again. Only this time it wasn't so faint, and it was spoken in a way Tommy recognized only too well. He then turned again and he saw a figure appear right in front of him. Since the fog was masking it he couldn't really make out who or what it was, only that it looked like a person. As he stepped closer though, the figure became clearer…

"Ahhh!"

Tommy snapped open his eyes and bolted up from his bed. He blinked a little bit before wiping away some sweat from his forehead.

_Man, what a nightmare._ He thought as he took in his surroundings. He was back in his own room, no fog, no mirror, or voice was around. He then looked at his bedside clock and saw the time.

_5:45. Great, have a nightmare just one hour before I get up._ He thought. _Well, I may as well get some water to drink and get ready now._ As he got up he headed to the bathroom to wash up before going to the kitchen.

As he splashed cold water in his face, he then looked at his reflection in the mirror. _That dream was just way too intense, too real._ It wasn't the first time he had an intense dream, but this time it was a lot more intense than before.

His dreams would always start off with him standing in front of a mirror. The mirror would then show him flashbacks of the highs and lows he had been through in his life as a Power Ranger. Among those highs and lows were his relationships with the two women who ever meant anything to him. The mirror would then disappear and his dream would end. However, this time, before his dream ended, he heard a voice say his name and when he turned around he saw a figure appear. As he had approached the figure he then saw the fog lift away from its head, revealing an angelic face with long gold hair…and sapphire eyes.


	2. Power Reflections

Disclaimer: It's on the prologue if you want to read it. (Oh yeah, I also just want to say...Catherine Sutherland is fine!!!)

Chapter 1-Power Reflections

_You know there's something you need_

_Right here and now_

_To fill the space inside of yourself…_

…_The compulsion to count the percentage of time_

_Spent between two lovers_

_Can turn an hour into a crime_

_And all the good times suffer_

_Though you know it's only jealousy_

_You can't help but be_

_Haunted by your passion_

Possession Obsession

Performed by Hall & Oates

From the album Big Bam Boom

--

"_O.K. Well, it's now 8:31, so let's check on that early morning traffic, Linda...?"_

The radio buzzed on some of the cars' radios as the traffic moved down the interstate. It was still a little early in the morning, and the morning rush hour was in full force. However, at the same time it was running smoothly enough that there wasn't any bumper-to-bumper traffic and fortunately, to one young, blond-haired woman of 27, the traffic was just perfect.

_It's steady, yet moving slowly._ She thought as she looked out the bus window towards a passing sign that said **REEFSIDE: 3 miles.** She then rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a folder that had a stickie note attached to it.

Cosmos Dance Academy

301 Jackson Blvd.

Reefside, CA 94546

Katherine Hilliard smiled to herself. Teaching dance was actually a new venture for her. For the past 9 years she had been performing in many numerous plays, musicals, and many other productions. She even had the chance to be a choreographer for a Beauty and the Beast play at one of London's theatre's last year, which had been a child's dream come true for her.

In fact, it was that experience that made her realize that she did have a natural teaching ability and would make a great dance teacher. It was also around this time that she had begun to consider moving back to the U.S., or more specifically, California. As much as she had enjoyed being at the Royal Academy all these years, California did hold many memories for her; some good, some sad. Plus, there was something in the back of her mind that had been nagging at her for quite some time now. Kat couldn't put her finger on it, but it was as if a little voice in her mind was telling her that she might be making the right choice if she went back to California. Kat always was one to trust her instincts, and seeing as how she was considering moving back to the states, she decided to go with it and began mailing resumes to several dance schools in California to see if there was a teaching position available.

For a while since she sent the resumes she hadn't gotten back any responses. However, a few weeks later she had received a letter from a dance school in Reefside called Cosmos that had an assisting teacher position available and was wondering if she would like to schedule an interview with them. Kat had said yes and notified her fellow co-dancers, some of which she had formed friendships with, that she had finally received a response from a dance school in America for her to teach, thus meaning it was time for her to leave. Her friends were sad to see her go, but they supported her decision and wished her the best of luck, telling her that if she ever chose to return, she would be welcome.

By the time she had received the acceptance letter, Kat had already packed half of her things and kept the other half unpacked in case nothing happened. Right after she received the letter she then packed the rest of her stuff, and headed out on her scheduled flight to California, which fortunately, was two days later. Unfortunately the airport at Reefside was still under construction so the airport closest to Reefside was Mariner Bay International Airport. It was still a long ways away from Reefside, but compared to other airports, it was as close as you could get. Once Kat got off the plane she then took an express bus that would take her to Reefside.

So far, the ride there had had been quite pleasant, with an occasional stop at restrooms and 7-Elevens, but in all, quite placid.

Kat then put the folder with the stickie back in her backpack and pulled out her scrapbook, even though she knew it wouldn't be long before she got to Reefside.

_Still,_ _there's no harm in killing time somehow._ She thought as she opened it. Since she was a little girl, Kat had gotten to work on a scrapbook that had all of her most treasured memories in all kinds of media: photos, notes, drawings, anything that she liked she put in. Even when it looked full, Kat would always find a way to add a new page to it and put new memoirs on it. In a way, the scrapbook was like a timeline to her, a timeline that gave her a sense of continuity between who she was now and the wise old woman she might become.

As she flipped through some pages she then came to a photo of a young man with long brown hair leaning against a tree smiling at the camera. Next to it was another picture of the same young man with Kat leaning on his shoulder.

Kat sighed. Even though she hadn't seen Tommy in nine years there wasn't a day that went by that she didn't think of him, even though it was less frequently. There would be times that, before she would go to sleep, she would reflect on the times she and Tommy had together. Granted, they weren't as long as she had wished, for they had only been dating for several months before they would pass on their powers and then go their separate ways. Leaving for London was the hardest thing she had to do, but Tommy had said to her that she would be giving up an incredible opportunity if she didn't go. After she spent what felt like hours locked in Tommy's arms she had reluctantly went on the plane to London. For a long time after that, she would always wonder if all she really did was turn her back on the one thing in her life she treasured the most.

_C' mon, Kat. Get a hold of yourself. That was years ago._ She thought. _Besides, you haven't spoken to him in almost ten years. You don't even know where he is or what he's even doing._

The bus then began to slow down a bit as it turned from the interstate highway onto a regular highway. Kat then looked out the window and saw a sign that said **REEFSIDE CITY LIMITS** pass her by.

In no time at all the bus arrived at the station and everyone began to disembark. Kat picked up her backpack along with her other bag and did the same.

_Still...I wonder what he's doing...and if he's happy..._

AN: So, what do you guys think? I'll get Chapters 2 & 3 on as soon as I can, Even though I still have to type Ch. 2 and I have only half of 3 written down.


	3. Tyranno Kicks

Author's Note: Yo! What's up? I know it's been a while, but I had an exam in Anatomy/Physiology II this past Monday and I had to study like a maniac. Oh yeah, by the way, did anybody see "Thunder Struck"? 'Cause I sure did. The episode was all right, but there's still some plotholes there. For example, what the hell happened to Lothor? He only got trapped in a science jar, he didn't really die, y' know.

But, you know what? It's not the first time the PR writers write a "concluding" episode that can leave us with some unanswered questions. Heck, I could rant about how "Countdown to Destruction" left a _LOT_ of plotholes, but I won't go there.

Well, without further ado, I give to you…Chapter 2. Enjoy!

--

Chapter 3-Tyranno Kicks

"Push it up!"

17 year-old Conner Mcknight heard the coaches' command almost as much as he heard the few spectators watching the game. He paid no attention to it though, he already knew what he had to do; besides, to him, whenever he was on the field, there was only him, his teammates, his opponents, and the soccer ball.

He passed the ball to his attacking midfielder and quickly broke into a run towards his opponents' goal. The midfielder tried to pass back to Conner, but no sooner had he received the ball had an opposing midfielder checked him on his left. Conner's teammate then saw a fellow forward on his right running ahead of him and quickly passed it to the latter as hard as he could. The forward received it smoothly and got into position to shoot, but got caught off guard by a defender that was blocking his angle. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Conner running towards the goal. The forward then crossed the ball towards Conner, hoping he'd get it and score.

Conner saw the cross, but since he and the sweeper were within the same distance of the ball, he doubted he could get it before the sweeper could.

_Well, not by skill alone anyway._

He ran towards the ball at about the same time the sweeper did and was able to catch it with his chest. However, he wasn't able to turn around and shoot for the sweeper was on him.

_Time for some fancy footwork…_

Conner then concentrated, and the Dino gem on his bracelet began to glow. He then began to shift the ball between his feet, slowly at first, and then faster and faster until all the sweeper really saw was a blur.

_Well, dino-style, anyway._

Conner smiled to himself as he twirled around the surprised sweeper and shot the ball off towards the far-post area of the goal. The goalie leaped to stop it, but the ball had already hit the right corner of the goal.

"Good shot, Mcknight!" the coach said.

As Conner returned back to his position the coach then blew his whistle to the two teams, "Okay, chaps. Let's call it a day, shall we? We'll continue our practice Thursday."

As Conner walked over to his soccer bag, one of his teammates approached him. "Yo, Mcknight! How'd you do that?"

"Do what?" Conner asked.

"That little footwork back there."

Conner shrugged. "Just a little practice." He replied nonchalantly.

"Well, whatever it is, keep at it man, 'cause we could use that move to win a few."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." Conner chuckled as he reached for his backpack and headed off to the locker room to change.

When Conner stepped out, he saw his friends Ethan James, Kira Ford, and Trent Fernandez talking by a soda machine.

"Guys?" Conner asked.

"Well, if it isn't the future David Beckham." Kira quipped.

Conner laughed. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, we figured before we head over to Dr. O's place we thought we'd see you in action." Ethan replied.

"I'm flattered." Conner said. "Wait a sec, Mesogog's not up to something, is he?" Conner asked.

"No, not that we know of…yet." Ethan replied. "It turns out our good ole' doc still has a lot of paraphernalia lying all over his underground pad and he still hasn't gotten around to fixing it up. I went by his place last week to get that extra credit paper and I found him buried underneath a hill of stuff. I asked him if I could help him out but he said it was all right and to go on ahead. Besides, what with Thanksgiving break comin' up he felt we could use the time off, seeing as how Mesogog hasn't been up to anything lately."

"Yet." Trent supplied.

"Exactly, so I figured, why not go help him out? It's something to do, plus if lizard-breath decides to conjure up his next turkey, we'll be waiting for him." Ethan said.

"So you insisted?" Conner asked.

"Yeah."

"How about you guys?"

"Didn't need any convincing here, man." Trent said.

"Ditto." Kira answered.

"So how about you?" Ethan asked.

"Well, seeing as how you guys were kind enough to see me practice, you've convinced me." Conner said dramatically.

"Speaking of practice, I could've sworn I saw you doing some fancy footwork towards the end of your scrimmage." Kira pointed out.

"Well, I…kinda gave my feet a head start." Conner replied.

"Or put simply, using your dino gem, you made like Sonic the Hedgehog and 'juiced'." Ethan said.

"All I did was just throw him off a little bit, then it was all me."

"You were at least subtle when you used it though, right?" Kira asked.

"Yes, mom." Conner answered.

Conner's Mustang was parked right in front of the field, so it wasn't a long walk for the four rangers. As they got in they then headed in the direction of Dr. Oliver's house.

"Y' know, with all this peace and quiet, I'm really starting to wonder if Mesogog is up to something big." Ethan said.

"Please dude, don't jinx it. Let's just enjoy our time off and hope that Mesogog is in a bad enough mood that he still hasn't found a way to bust up our Thanksgiving break." Conner said as he turned onto Valencia Road.

"Oh, c'mon, Conner. Ever heard of the phrase, 'calm before the storm?'"

--

A/N: If this chapter felt somewhat cheesy, I'm sorry about that. But don't worry, things will get interesting later. In the meantime I'll try to finish Chapter three so I can type it.


	4. Lamenting & Contemplating

A/N: **How's it goin', everyone? Well, between fighting the common cold and typing up my story, I'm all right. Although I do wish I had gotten started on this fic a few months ago. The main reason why I say that is because I have a DT Christmas fic that takes place after this. Unfortunately I probably won't get _that_ fic written until sometime in February****. But if you guys like late Christmas gifts and T/Kt, you won't be disappointed. Just be patient.**

**Oh yeah, before I forget, I 'm using a villain modeled after two bosses from the two MegaMan Zero games. See if you can find which ones.**

Mesogog was _not_ in a happy mood.

He was seething to himself as he saw a replay of the five Dino Thunder Rangers eliminate yet another of his creations. This time with all of them combining their weapons into the Z-Rex blaster.

"No more!" Mesogog snarled angrily. "No more!" He then shot a stream of energy from his forehead at the viewscreen but just as the stream was about to hit the screen, it then shot up towards the ceiling.

Mesogog looked surprised for a moment, but then when he saw his most trusted assistant standing by the viewscreen, holding up her sword, along with the White Ranger clone flanking her, he then sighed bitterly.

"With all due respect, Lord Mesogog, don't you think we should not risk destroying anymore equipment than what has already been lost?" Elsa asked nonchalantly, referring to the experiments Trent had supposedly destroyed a month ago.

"As far as I'm concerned, that viewscreen is more of a hindrance than it is help." Mesogog replied. "The sight of those Rangers destroying experiment after experiment, with the strength of not three, not four, but FIVE, is driving me…Insane!!!"

"Then perhaps it might be time to take things up a notch." Elsa suggested.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, seeing as how those Rangers have raised their stakes and made their forces stronger (What with the White Ranger siding with them, the Red Ranger obtaining Triassic powers, and now upgrading those powers to Battilized mode), I see no reason why we couldn't do the same."

Mesogog's eyes narrowed. "Go on."

"Instead of just doing random attacks on random people, what we should do is be a little more specific this time. Go after individuals that may be associated with those Rangers in some way. It will draw them out of course, but they might hesitate and may think twice before they make their move." Elsa said.

"Thus giving us the advantage." The White Ranger clone concluded.

"Hmmm. An interesting plan, Elsa. However, I am not convinced." Mesogog replied.

"Fear not, master. For I have created the creature that will most surely get the job done." Elsa replied. She then walked over to the geno-randomizer's control panel and began pushing buttons with the Ranger clone helping her. Instantly there was a soft electrical hum and steam began to erupt from within the geno-randomizer. The doors then opened and out stepped an imposing creature.

It was mostly black and light gray all over, with a head that looked like that of a falcon but it also had the jaw of a panther. It's torso looked humanoid, but the differences were in its feet and hands. It's hands were giant claws that resembled scythes. In addition, its feet looked like giant talons that made light scratching noises as it walked. To top it off, there was also long emerald wings that were folded along its back and a cat's tail at the end.

"My lord, may I introduce to you…Felectro Falclaws." Elsa said.

"I await your command, my lord." The creature spoke.

"Well, I must say, Elsa." Mesogog said. "You may have outdone yourself this time, but I will reserve my judgement until I have seen results."

"And results you will receive, my master." Elsa replied coolly.

"All that's left now is to find who will be the unfortunate ones to be held hostage." The White Ranger clone chuckled.

Mesogog then rose from his chair and walked towards the control panel.

"Master?" Elsa asked.

Mesogog looked at Elsa and smirked, "Although I did not have this plan in mind, I suprisingly thought ahead when you mentioned 'people associated with the Rangers'." He then walked over to the control panel and pushed some buttons, then an image of Cassidy and Devin appeared on the screen.

"It seems Elsa, that we may have our candidates already." He snarled wickedly.

A/N: Well, maaaaan, Mesogog could use some serious therapy. So, what do you guys think so far? I know I'm taking my time, but when it comes to writing this, you can't rush it. By the way, were you able to guess which bosses from the two MMZ games I modeled the monster from? If you can let me know in the reviews. Also, I have a final next Monday so I'll be busy for the next few days. Howevah, don't worry for as soon as I'm done with that, I'll type up the next chaptah.


	5. A new road

A/N: **I'm baaaack! Y' know, it's been crazy during these past few days but I made it. Don't know how but I made it. Well, now that my final is ovah (pardon my NY accent) I'll be able to type up some more chapters and help decorate my house all at the same time.**

**Oh yeah, last, but NOT least, thanks to everyone for all the reviews!**

Kat smiled in awe as she looked out the taxi window as it passed several streets on the way to a hotel she had a reservation in. So far the sights weren't too bad; in fact, to her Reefside gave off a kind of Angel Grove vibe.

"So miss, you new in town?"

Kat smiled at the cab driver. "Yes, I am." She replied.

"Where from?"

"London. Although I had actually lived in Angel Grove years ago and before that I lived in Australia."

"Cool. So what brought you back to the states?" the cab driver asked.

Kat thought for a moment. "Well, I guess I just felt that maybe some peace and quiet would do me some good." She said.

"Well, I can tell you from my own experience: Reefside is a nice place. It may be like any other city, but it has a lot of interesting things. We practically have some of the best soccer clubs with some of the best players here. Plus, we even have our own guardian angels lookin' out for us as well."

"You mean…?" Kat asked.

"That's right. Our own Power Rangers." The cab driver replied.

Kat laughed. _Somehow I'm not surprised._ She thought to herself. Even though she hadn't been a Ranger in years she had heard of many other Ranger teams defending different areas around California from the newspapers she would read while in London. While she wasn't shocked about the fact that Reefside had it's own Power Rangers she couldn't help but feel a wave of memories hit her. Namely when she used the Pink Ranger powers for the very first time…fighting alongside the other Rangers…having a sense of belonging…trying to redeem herself for her past mistakes…

"Y' know, it kind of sucks that Reefside's airport was closed for repairs." The cab driver remarked.

"I thought it was still under construction." Kat replied.

"Pilots and flight attendants only say that not to freak other people out." He answered. "According to my wife's brother, who works over at baggage claim, there had been a monster attack. A creature calling himself Terrasaurus had attacked the airport and damaged one side of it. Luckily though the Rangers showed up and sent that freak packing. Unfortunately Terra-freak left a lot of damage in that area that would make flights impossible; they're still doin' repairs right now but let me tell you, buildings can be restored, lives can't. If those Multi-colored guys hadn't come to help, Who knows what could've happened?"

"I know what you mean." Kat said reflectively.

"Ah, here we are."

Kat then looked out the window and saw the cab turn towards the hotel she was staying in. The words DAYS INN were superimposed on the marquee.

"Thanks a lot." Kat said to the driver.

"No problem." The driver replied.

Kat then reached for her stuff in the left backseat of the cab, paid the cab driver, and headed off for the lobby carrying a backpack, a beachbag in one hand, and a bulging suitcase in the other. As she approached the front desk a woman greeted her.

"Hello. Welcome to DAYS INN. Can I be of help?"

"Yes." Kat replied. "I have a reservation here under Hillaird."

"Katherine Hillaird. Let's see…" The receptionist replied as she typed at her computer. "Yes, you are in. Hold on for just a second." She then went to the back, then came back to her desk carrying a pair of keys. "These two both open the door to your room. Of course you'll only need one." She chuckled. "Our pool's open until 11 PM, and we have IHOP next door if you feel hungry."

"Cheers." Kat replied as she took both of the keys.

"Enjoy your stay at DAYS INN." The receptionist said.

Kat smiled. "I'll try."

--

The second Kat closed the door to her suite she dropped her bags to the floor with a thud. She then collapsed on the bed like she was doing a backward dive off the board of a swimming pool. She then stretched her arms and legs all over the bed, relishing in its softness.

_At least I won't be sleeping on a chair._ She thought as she sighed comfortably on the bed. She then snuck a peak at her watch, 1:33. Luckily she didn't have to get to Cosmos for her interview until 3:30, so she could at least relax until 2:00. Hopefully by then she could get some lunch, hail a taxi and head there early. _I'll check out the rest of Reefside's sights after that._ She thought as her sapphire eyes fluttered and she drifted off into a nap. Before she went into a deep slumber she thought of what she might find here at Reefside and whether she'd do a good job teaching. That is, if she got the job.

_Don't be silly, Katherine._ She thought to herself. _Of course you will._

_"If something's not worth doing whole-heartedly, then it's not worth doing at all."_

A small smile began to break across the corners of Kat's mouth. It was almost funny how even after many years Tommy's words of wisdom could still come to her and with that a feeling began to float in her mind. She couldn't quite place it, but she somehow felt that she had made the right choice and just as she had great experiences in London, she felt that she would have incredible experiences once again in the States.

A/N: Man, if Kat only knew…Oh yeah, just in case some of you didn't already know, Kat does NOT know Tommy's in Reefside. And Tommy's quote I had gotten from "I'll be there" from the "Love is" series. So what's the damage report? I'll update again as soon as I can write the next chap.


	6. Memorabilia Excavation

A/N: **So how's everyone's holidays been? Mine's been pretty good, what with me being able to open my presents, calling in to take Christmas Day off, eating at IHOP, watching Spider-Man II, I'd say I'm having a blast! As my gift to all you true believers, I give you…a new chapter. I've actually had _this _chapter in my mind before I even did the prologue; the question was how to do it. So when I saw "Legacy of Power" on DVD, I saw (and I'm sure you guys did too) that the video journal didn't explain _everything_ in terms of Tommy and his relationships. Let alone the post-ranger stuff he's done, so that instantly gave me the idea of how to do this chapter. So as a result, there might be some references to several PR episodes so keep an eye out. And most importantly, I'd like to take this moment to say Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year (Feliz Navidad y Feliz Ano Nuevo!)!**

**--**

Chapter 6-Memorabilia Excavation

"Y' know dude, when you said Dr. O still had some stuff in his pad to put away, I thought you meant he had a pile of stuff, not Mt. Everest!" Conner exclaimed as he saw the piles of boxes, boxes, and more boxes littered all over Dr. Oliver's underground lab.

"Oh, trust me man. You didn't see how this place was last week." Ethan replied.

"Somehow I don't think I want to know." Kira remarked.

"Whoa!" CRASH!

The four Rangers then turned around and saw their teacher Tommy Oliver lying on the ground blinking his eyes. Contents were spilling out of the box he had dropped and were covering him in notebooks, papers, and other sorts of paraphernalia.

"Uh…taking a paper shower, doc?" Conner asked as he and Trent helped their teacher to his feet.

"Yeah, all I need is White-out 2000." Tommy replied. Everyone laughed.

"Look, you guys don't have to do this." Tommy said to his protégés. "Thanksgiving break starts tomorrow, by rights you should be out having fun and spending time with your folks."

"Maybe, but what about you doc, what are you gonna be doin'?" Conner asked, "Digging through old stuff?"

Tommy sighed, "Among other things."

Ethan then lifted the box that had fallen on his teacher and put it on top of a pile. He then walked over to Dr. Oliver and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Dr. O, in addition to being your students, we are also your protégés, fellow rangers, and in a way, your friends. Now I don't know about you guys, but I'm not gonna let a friend spend his Thanksgiving down in his 'Power Ranger Lab of Solitude' digging up memorabilia fossils, or at least not by himself. We're a team; we're supposed to look out for each other."

"Thanks, Ethan." Tommy replied. "By the way, do your parents know you're here?"

"Already called 'em." Conner answered.

"Mom already knows." Ethan said.

"My folks were going out to a club tonight, so they didn't mind." Kira said.

"I spoke to my dad, and he said it was okay." Trent said.

"Well, then what are we waiting for? Let's get started." Tommy replied. "Oh yeah, you guys wouldn't mind if I ordered pizza, would you?" he asked.

"Not at all." Conner and Ethan said with glazed raptures on their faces.

Kira shook her head at this and Trent chuckled.

"How about you guys?" Tommy asked.

"Same here." Trent replied.

"Ditto." Kira said.

"OK, great. I guess you guys can get start unloading some boxes then. I'll head upstairs and put in the order. I'll come back down to help you guys once I'm done with that."

"You got it, Dr. O." Conner replied.

As Tommy headed up the stairway the four teens looked at all the piles of boxes scattered all around them.

"So who gets which?" Trent asked.

"Dibs on this one." Conner said as he plopped down next to a box labeled _High School stuff_.

"Dude, you _always_ get the cool stuff." Ethan said accusingly.

"It was fate Ethan, karma." Conner said.

"That's not karma, that's luck." Ethan declared as he sat next to a box labeled _Misc_. "Now if I was to be the undisputed Halo II champion, _that_ would be karma."

Everyone but Trent looked at him blankly.

Ethan shook his head, "Forget it."

--

Tommy walked up the hidden staircase, reaching for his portable phone. Though he had a communicator on his bracelet, he kept his portable home phone handy in case he wanted to order in or if he was expecting a phone call, which was seldom. As he entered his home and started to look for the yellow pages he then thought about what Ethan had said to him for it really stuck. His students didn't have to spend their Thanksgiving break helping him put away some stuff, and yet here they were, ready to help him out. In this respect, it was as if they weren't treating him as their teacher, it was as if they were treating him as though he were their age, as if he were one of them. Strangely enough, it gave him a sense of belonging that he hadn't felt since his days as the White and later Red Ranger.

_It's amazing how that makes you think about the people you had formed good friendships with, and…some who became more than that._

He didn't think of it, but almost instantly he then thought back to the dream/nightmare that he had last night.

_Man, I have got to stop dwelling on that._ He thought to himself as he found the book and began flipping through the pages. As soon as he saw the phone number for Pizza Hut he then began to dial the number.

--

While Conner and Ethan were already prying open the boxes, Trent looked around the piles and then he saw one box catch his eye. He then walked over to Kira and tapped her on her shoulder, "Hey, Kira."

Kira then turned her face towards him, "Yeah?"

Maybe it was just the way she turned her head to look at him, because for a few seconds Trent could have sworn his heart rate was beginning to skyrocket. _Come on man, snap out of it. It's just…Kira._ He thought.

"Trent? What is it?"

Trent quickly shook it off and smiled, "Oh, it's just that I saw a box that I think we can empty out."

"Really? Which one?"

"That one right there." Trent then pointed to a box labeled _Music/Entertainment_. "Want to take that one?"

"Why not? It's my kind of box." Kira said as she walked over to the box and sat next to it. Trent sat right next to her and lifted off the box's cover.

"Y' know, for a Power Ranger legend, Dr. O sure has a tendency to accumulate a lot of junk." Ethan remarked as he pulled out a bundle of notebooks labeled _Grad school notes_. "Sometimes I think that if he didn't become a teacher, he probably would've turned into an adult hippie with the mind of a-"

"Teen?" Conner, Trent, and Kira asked.

"Yeah." Ethan said. "Although I still find it hard to imagine Dr. O at our age."

"Tell me about it." Kira said sarcastically as she pulled out some styrofoam and saw a bundle of CD's under it. "OK Dr. O, let's see what music _you_ were into." She then pulled out several of them out of the box and went through them one by one. "Foreigner, Richard Marx, Bryan Adams, Brian McKnight-"

"Did I hear someone say my name?" Conner asked as he gently placed Tommy's diploma on the ground.

"No, I was just looking through Dr. O's music collection." Kira replied. "It looks like one of the artists has the same last name as yours."

"Oh, c' mon, who could possibly have my last name?" Conner asked. Kira shook her head.

"Let me see." Trent asked. Kira then handed him the ones she saw.

"Hmmm. Not too bad of a selection." Trent said as he looked through the albums. He then took another one Kira handed him and he saw an almost shocked look on her face as she gave him it.

"Kira, you all right?" he asked.

"Just look on the front of that cover." She said.

Trent looked at the CD cover, "It only says…Def Leppard?" he then looked at Kira and raised his eyebrows.

"Dr. O listens to 80's metal? Cool." Ethan said.

"I'll second that." Conner replied.

"You guys actually call _that_ music?" Kira asked.

"Hell yeah." Conner and Ethan answered.

"Besides, that kind of music goes quite nicely when I play old-school games." Ethan said.

Kira just sighed.

Conner chuckled as he reached into the box to pull out another layer of styrofoam. As he took the layer off he then saw photos of what looked like his teacher and other people. Curious, he took a closer look and picked up the top one.

"Speaking of teen hippie." He thought out loud. "Hey guys, come on over here. You should see this."

Ethan, Kira, and Trent got up from where they were and walked over to where Conner was.

"See what?" Kira asked.

"This." Conner said. He then gestured over at the pile of other photos. "And probably those too."

"So this was Dr. O's old posse." Ethan remarked as he looked at the photo. It had a guy in a red sleeveless shirt sitting in the back. Next to him was a black guy wearing a black T-shirt. Next to him was a pretty Asian girl dressed all in yellow. In the front was a bespectacled guy in blue overalls. To the right of him was a girl with caramel-colored hair and was dressed all in pink.

Conner raised one eyebrow. "Wow, she's cute." He said with a smirk.

"I hear you, man." Ethan said.

Kira just glared at the both of them.

Conner then looked at the left of the girl and saw a long-haired guy dressed all in green holding a soccer ball in his hands.

"Dr. O?" Conner, Ethan, and Trent said at the same time.

"No way, that cannot possibly be him." Ethan said.

"Believe it." Kira said.

"You don't look surprised." Conner pointed out.

"Oh, I am. It's just that looking at that reminded me of another picture I saw months ago when I was helping Dr. O do some inventory. It had all six of them in their Ranger costumes smiling for the camera. I saw Dr. O's hair and I laughed about how he had it."

"What the hell was he thinkin'?" Ethan remarked.

Conner chuckled as he put the photo down and went to another one. This one showed Tommy dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans with Billy and Kimberly standing next to him. However, instead of Trini, Zack, and Jason, there was Rocky, Adam, and Aisha standing with them.

"Y' know, the guy should've stuck with a mullet instead of putting hair fertilizer on his head and growing a mane." Ethan said.

"Who are those guys?" Trent asked.

"I think those three were the replacements for the other trio." Conner replied. He then looked at Trent. "Oh wait, you never saw Dr. O's video journal, did you?"

"What video journal?" Trent asked.

"I'll take that as a no." Conner replied. "Ok, long story short: Dr. O has a video journal that basically tells the entire Power Ranger legacy; the teams, people, and zords. Starting from the original Rangers to us."

"Whoa." Trent remarked.

"I know, that's what we said after we saw the whole thing." Ethan said.

Conner then flipped through a few more pictures but he didn't look at them as long as the first two for they were mostly group pictures. He then came to a picture that had a picture of Tommy in a racing jumpsuit standing with his uncle outside a large garage next to a cool-looking car.

"Whoa, Dr. O was a race car driver?"

"What?" Kira, Trent, and Ethan said.

"Dr. O a racer? Get out of here." Ethan said.

"Take a look for yourself, man! How do you explain the jumpsuit?" Conner asked as he showed the others the photo.

"And he went into paleontology after that?" Ethan wondered. "That doesn't make any sense. Why didn't he just stick to racing and be the next Jeff Gordon or something?"

"Who knows?" Trent offered. "Although it does explain why he likes using his Black ATV so much."

"Probably." Conner said. "Although I do have to ask Ethan, how do you know about racing?"

"I have Cruisin' USA for my N64, plus some racing games for my XBOX and PS2."

_Typical._ Conner thought. He then reached into the box and grabbed another pile of photos. When he looked at the top photo he saw a tall woman with long blonde hair, dressed in a light pink shirt and blue shorts smiling at the camera.

"DUDE." Was all he could say.

Ethan, Kira, and Trent glanced at the photo for a second, and then their eyes widened and they glanced closer, namely Trent and Ethan.

"DAAAAMN." Conner, Ethan, and Trent said in unison.

"Who is that?" Kira asked, trying to hide her irritation at seeing Trent's jaw drop at the sight of the woman in the photo.

"Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, eat your hearts out." Conner said dreamily.

"Hello?" Kira then whacked Trent and the other guys on the head, and not at all gently either. "I think I asked you hormone-induced maniacs a question: 'Who is she?'"

Trent quickly snapped out of his trance as he rubbed his head. "Maybe it says something on the photo or on the back." He said as he looked apologetically at Kira.

Conner looked at the photo and other than the girl herself, there wasn't anything else. He then flipped it over and saw some writing on the back.

_To Tommy,  
Hope you like the picture._

_Love, Katherine.  
XOXO_

"Wait, now I remember!" Ethan said. "She was in the video journal! She was the one who took that _other_ girl's place-what was her name-Karly, no-Kimberly! Yeah, Katherine was the one who took Kimberly's place."

Conner then pulled out the second photo of the bundle and it showed Tommy and Kat leaning against a tree. However Kat was more leaning on Tommy than on the tree with her right arm on his chest.

"All right, go Dr. O, go Dr. O!" Conner and Ethan said.

"Did I hear someone call me?" said a voice from upstairs.

_Shit!_ Conner thought, and from the looks on his friends' faces, they were thinking the same thing.

"Quick! Let's put up the photos!" he whispered.

"Guys?"

The foursome quickly yet gently piled the pictures up, and then put them behind the box so their teacher wouldn't see them. They had just breathed out a sigh of relief when-

"Guys?"

"Oh, hi Dr. O." Conner said.

"Did you guys call me?" Tommy asked.

"Oh no. We were just talking to ourselves." Ethan said.

"So were you able to call?" Trent asked.

Dr. Oliver shook his head, "Line was busy." He replied. "By the way, were you guys able to take some stuff out of the boxes?"

Conner shrugged. "Well, we're making progress." He said.

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!

"Speaking of progress." Kira said sarcastically.

"Should've known that was gonna happen sooner or later." Tommy said as he walked over to the computer and began punching keys, then a picture of Tyrannodrones and a big, hulking monster appeared on the viewing screen.

"Looks like Mesogog just unleashed his turkey." Ethan said.

"Then let's send it back to him stuffed and roasted." Conner said confidently.

"While we're at it, let's not forget the gravy." Tommy quipped as he rose from his chair.

The five rangers walked over to the center of the lab, and took their stances.

"Ready?" Tommy asked.

"Ready!" the others replied as their bracelets turned into morphers.

"Dino Thunder, power up, hah!"

"White Ranger, dino power!"

--

A/N: Y' know, this has got to be the longest chapter I have ever done. All my other ones were around 4-5 pages (laughs). But don't worry, there'll be more cool stuff coming up in later chapters. Oh, and as before, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!


	7. How to say hello to villains downtown

A/N: **What's up, everyone? I know it's been a while since my last update but I had to take a little break. Besides, I had to edit Ch.1 & 5 a little bit in addition to writing down Ch. 6. I know some of you are wondering when will Kat run into Tommy, and all I can say is this: Be patient, I'm getting there. Of course, getting there's only half the fun, so don't worry. I promised you guys that there will be some interesting things in the later chapters, and I intend to make good on that.**

**Oh yeah, be sure to check out "A quiet Christmas" by Funky in Fishnet. It's one hell of a DT Christmas fic plus it's got T/Kt, so you can't go wrong with that.**

P.S.: Wouldn't it be cool if Disney decided to release MMPR and all the other ones (Zeo, Turbo, etc.) as DVD box sets? I think that would make a LOT of fans happy.

"Uh, look Cass, I like going on these Ranger excursions as much as you do, but do we have to do 'em on our Thanksgiving break?" Devin asked as he lugged his camera bag on one arm and his camcorder in the other.

"It's called commitment, Devin." Cassidy Cornell replied to her cameraman counterpart. "Mr. Cormier has been breathing down both our necks about trying to find more information about the Power Rangers and so far we've come up with absolutely nothing. If we don't dig up some more information than what we already have, it might give Mr. Cormier a crazy enough reason to kick us out of his TV station."

_Besides, thinking about it, the only reason I even got the chance to work there was because of Kira._ She thought. A while back Kira had learned that Mr. Cormier was short one reporter and asked Cassidy if she would like to give it a shot. Cassidy went with her and was given an assignment to check out a farm. As a result, things didn't go so well and she had begun to contemplate giving up journalism. However, just then a fight between the Rangers and a monster named Jupitor had erupted. Cassidy, with some help from Devin, had reported the whole fight and had footage of it to boot. Mr. Cormier was impressed and gave her the empty slot. Ever since then, whenever there was a monster attack Cassidy would be called on to report.

"True, but that still doesn't explain what we're doing downtown." Devin replied.

"This is where the Rangers were last seen." Cassidy said. "In addition, this area of Reefside is where most of the fighting takes place."

"Hmmm. Makes sense." Devin replied. Suddenly a thought came to him and he smiled. "Although can you imagine what it would be like to film the action from the cockpit of those giant zords?"

"How about filming from the corner of a cell?"

"Uh…Cassidy, that doesn't sound like your voice." Devin said nervously.

"Devin…that's because it's NOT!!" Cassidy yelled as she pointed behind him. Devin turned around and saw Elsa, the White Ranger clone, and a giant Black Panther with emerald wings staring him and Cassidy down; along with the usual Tyrannodrones flanking the three of them.

"Umm…I don't suppose you guys would be interested in having an interview, would you?" Devin asked nervously.

"Unfortunately, we would have to get that cleared through our agents." Elsa said wickedly. "But seeing as how we don't have any of the sort, we'll just settle for reporters instead." She then drew her sword and pointed it at the both of them. "My master Mesogog has asked that the two of you come to his island fortress. It seems that he has a new plan in mind and fortunately for the two of you he needs a reporter and a cameraman to cover it."

"I'm sorry to say this, whatever-your-name-is, but me and Devin here already work for a TV station and I really don't think covering a psycho Dino-mutant's 'master-plan-to-take-over-the-world' would make the 6 o' clock news." Cassidy said calmly. "Especially when the Power Rangers botch it up everytime."

Elsa's eyes narrowed, but she maintained her evil smirk. "You act like I'm giving you a choice in the matter," she said. "But I'm _not_." She then nodded her head slightly.

As if on cue, Felectro Falclaws drew back his arm and thrusted it forward, shooting out electrical energy from his scythe-like claws. As it reached Cassidy and Devin, the energy then enveloped the two, but it didn't harm them. Instead it formed a net around them and kept the two of them binded together.

"My master has an exclusive coming up," Elsa said in a conversational tone. "And whether you like it or not, you're going to help him cover it."

TSEEEW! TSEEEW!

Colored laser shots hit Elsa, Felectro, and the Ranger clone, blinding them for a few seconds. When the smoke cleared Elsa and her comrades, along with Cassidy and Devin saw the five Dino-Thunder Rangers roaring onto the scene in their Raptor cycles and ATV's.

"The only help Mesogog's gonna need is him patchin' up your sorry asses once we get through kicking 'em from Reefside to his island fortress and back!" Ethan said as he dismounted his Raptor cycle.

Elsa smiled broadly, "I would like to see you try _this_ time." She then took a battle stance, "Attack!"

The Tyrannodrones charged towards the Rangers, but it was completely one-sided for they were dispatched pretty quickly.

Conner had felled the last Tyrannodrone when he saw the White clone do his dash-attack on him. He barely leaped out of the way when the clone was closing on him. When he turned around he saw it put it's Drago Sword back in its holster.

"What's the matter? Playing chicken now?" Conner taunted.

The White Ranger clone sneered. "_You're_ the one who's going to be playing chicken once our newest creation is finished with you, Red Ranger."

Conner wondered what he was talking about when he saw the panther creature leap at him from the corner of his eye. He tried to dodge, but Felectro was too quick for him. He slashed Conner viscously across his suit, then he tornado-kicked him several feet into the air.

"I cannot believe this!" Cassidy exclaimed. "Here we are seeing the biggest Ranger-monster slug fest and we can't even report the action because we can't move in this net!"

"This net's got us good, I can't reach my camera." Devin said as he tried to raise it but the net was too constrictive for him to do so.

"Conner! Hold on!" Tommy yelled as he, Kira and Ethan rushed to help him. Trent followed, but Elsa quickly blocked his path.

"Going somewhere, Trent?" Elsa cackled as she drew her sword.

"As a matter of fact I was, but I didn't remember planning on meeting a Matrix reject." Trent quipped. He then took out his Drago sword and began twirling it in the air, making energy arrows as he twirled it. He then shot them at Elsa, but she deflected them all with ease using her sword. However, this kept her from seeing him come at her with his trademark dash-attack.

Elsa reeled, but she just sneered at Trent and charged at him, engaging him in single combat while the others dealt with Felectro.

"Uh…you wouldn't happen to be a fugitive from MegaMan Zero 2 by any chance, would you?" Ethan joked as he looked at the monster up and down.

"And who exactly would that be?" Felectro asked as he leaped blindingly fast into the air, somersaulted, and then did a flying kick that was so fast Ethan didn't have time to react. The blow knocked him into the air and he fell facedown on the pavement.

"Ethan, you all right?" Kira asked as she helped him to his feet.

"I'm alive, if that's what you mean," Ethan answered. "But I don't remember being hit that hard before." He winced a little as he rose to his feet.

"Okay, now I'm really pissed." Tommy said. "Conner, you with me?"

"You got it, Dr. O!" Conner replied as he drew his weapon. "Tyranno Staff!"

Felectro stood completely still, not moving at all as he saw the Red and Black Rangers charge at him. He grinned as his emerald wings opened and then just as Conner and Tommy got close, he rocketed into the air. As he rose high enough his claws began to glow and crackle with electricity. He then swung his arms and shot two giant energy balls at the duo. Tommy and Conner tried to dodge, but they got hit all the same. Felectro then saw Ethan and Kira rushing over to help. He then flared his wings and dove toward them like a guided missile.

Meanwhile, Trent and Elsa were still going at it. She shot an energy blast at him, but he leaped out of the way.

"My turn." Trent said as he pointed the handle with the Dragozord's head at Elsa, firing a barrage of lasers at her, hitting her point-blank.

"You may have gotten me this time yet again White Ranger, but once Felectro gets through shredding up your friends into Ranger spaghetti, we'll see who has the last laugh." She sneered as she and the White Ranger clone disappeared through an invisiportal.

Trent then turned and saw Felectro knock over Ethan and Kira like they were bowling pins.

"Guys! Hang on!" He yelled as he rushed over to where the others were. "Kira, guys, are you all right?"

"We will be once that guy's permanently stuffed." Conner said as he used his Tyranno Staff to prop himself up. He then saw Felectro do a U-turn right back at them. "He's coming back."

"Then it's time to clip his wings." Trent said as he helped Kira to her feet. Once she was able to stand on her own, he then took a few steps ahead of the group and drew his Drago Sword.

"Trent, what are you gonna do?" Conner asked.

"I got an idea." Trent said as he saw Felectro complete his U-turn and head straight towards them. He then twirled his sword, creating energy arrows as before. As soon as he had several, he then shot them right at Felectro. Since the Falcon-Panther hybrid was moving so fast, he didn't have time to dodge, let alone see them. The arrows hit their mark, causing him to fall and scrape across the ground. Trent quickly took his chance and did his dash-attack before Felectro could get up completely.

"OK, guys. I think _that_ softened him up a little bit."

"Good job, Trent." Conner said. "OK guys, let's put 'em together!"

The fivesome then took their respective weapons and then combined them into one awesome weapon.

"Z-Rex blaster ready!"

"Aim!" Tommy and Trent yelled.

"Fire!" Conner, Ethan, and Kira commanded.

The Z-Rex blaster then shot a giant blast of energy at Felectro, but even though he was a little dazed, he wasn't out yet. He then drew back his arms, his scythe-like claws glowing with energy. As the blast came close he then lunged out his arms and caught the blast in his claws, gathering it all in one big energy ball. He then focused it at the Rangers and flung it right back at them. There was a huge explosion, with the five Rangers crying out. Once the smoke cleared, the Rangers were lying on the ground, writhing in pain as they struggled to get back on their feet.

"Did you prepubescents think you could get rid of me that easily with that big toy blaster of yours?" Felectro said. "A shame, really. I was expecting more than that out of you."

"You want more?!" Conner snapped. "You got it!" He then raised his Triassic Shield of Triumph and got ready to power up.

"Ah, ah, ahhh." Felectro said. "Somehow I wouldn't do that if I were you, Red Ranger." He then raised his right arm and the net that had Cassidy and Devin trapped came to him. He then put the net in front of him, using the two as a shield. Conner then stopped himself, "What are you doing with them?" he demanded angrily.

"It's called seizing the upper hand." Felectro replied casually. "And judging from the looks of things, the cards are in my favor." He then sneered at Conner and the other Rangers. "You can go ahead and power up or do whatever it is you were gonna do, you can even attack me right now if you want, but what if two innocent bystanders got caught in the crossfire?"

"You wouldn't…" Ethan said angrily.

"Oh, look who's acting hostile now?" Felectro said mockingly. "As I said before, feel free to attack me if you want, but it'll be these reporter's lives on your hands if you do."

Conner looked at the creature, then to Cassidy and Devin, not really knowing what to do. He wanted to turn this monster into a panther casserole, but he didn't want to risk Devin or Cassidy getting hurt.

"Don't listen to him, Red!" Devin yelled out. "Just do it!"

Conner then took a battle stance, and raised his Triassic Shield, but Tommy put his hand on his wrist, shaking his head slightly. Conner felt like saying "What?" but then he nodded and lowered his shield.

"Amazing." Felectro said. "You Rangers can be all gung-ho when it comes to fighting Tyrannodrones or even creatures like myself, but when it comes to innocent lives, you can be so sentimental it's pathetic." The claw on his left hand began to glow, and then he drew back his arm and flung an energy boomerang at them.

"I think I'll let you guys stay conscious for now, but the next time I bump into you Rainbow boy/girl-scouts, I won't be as friendly." Felectro then released his grip on the net and pushed Cassidy and Devin away. "Catch you on the flip side." He sneered as he disappeared into an invisiportal.

"Are you guys OK?" Ethan asked as he walked over to Cassidy and Devin.

"Yeah, just a little whizzed out, but we're all right." Devin replied.

"I still can't believe we weren't able to get all that." Cassidy whined.

"At least you're OK, that's what counts the most." Ethan said.

"C' mon, we better get back." Tommy said.

"Right." The other Rangers replied.

Ethan took one last look at the duo before he took off after the others.

"Y' know something Cass?" Devin asked. "Those are some real heroes is I ever saw one."

Cassidy smiled one of her rare smiles. "I know what you mean Devin. I know what you mean."

A/N: Pretty intense, huh?


	8. With memoironi and mushrooms

A/N: The first part's an interlude. Then it goes to the main chapter.

--

Chapter 7-With memoironi & mushrooms

--

"Well, Felectro, I do have to say," Elsa said as she, the White Ranger clone and the hybrid entered the main room of Mesogog's island fortress. "Your performance against the Rangers was nothing short of incredible."

"Indeed." Mesogog said as he rose from his chair. "However, I do have to ask: The two teenage reporters, why didn't you bring them with back with you? If the plan was to force the Ranger's hand and make them squirm in their suits before they acted, you should have proven your point and brought them here."

"You are right my lord." Elsa replied. "But in a way, we already have proven our point to those prebubescents."

"What do you mean?" Mesogog asked.

"I mean that because of this fight, we have, as kids say nowadays, freaked out the Power Rangers. And we have done so in a way so that everytime they try to go head-to-head with us, they won't know for sure if an innocent bystander will 'accidentally' get caught in the crossfire. And if that bystander happens to be someone they know or care about, it'll only give us more of an advantage." Elsa answered.

Mesogog lowered his head and placed his claw under his chin as he paced around in thought. After a few moments he then raised his head and looked at Elsa. "As strange as this is for me to say Elsa, you may very well have a point." He said. "Now I am not one to usually ask this, but seeing as how our good friend Felectro left those Rangers reeling, I'll ask it; what do we do now?"

Elsa smirked. "We'll let those Rangers lick their bruises…for now. But once they think they can relax completely…"

Felectro swiped at the air with his right claw as if to finish Elsa's sentence.

Mesogog saw the gesture, and snarled wickedly.

--

"Okay, I feel like I seriously had my bell rung about 5 times." Conner said as he rubbed his hand against his semi-sore chest.

"Try me, I feel like I'm standing on toothpicks." Kira said as she leaned against the column and slumped to the floor.

"Just what the hell was that freak?" Trent asked as he sat down next to Kira. "I mean, of all the whackos Mesogog's cooked up, this one takes the cake."

"Well, if you ask me I think Mesogog made a clone out of Jet Li, and then pumped him full of Panther/Bird DNA." Ethan said as he walked over to the group rubbing his left shoulder.

"More like a Bruce Lee clone." Tommy said as he sat on a chair by the console.

"Dr. O, there's one thing I do wanna ask," Conner said. "Why didn't you let me go Triassic? I probably could've warped that monster someplace else so he wouldn't threat Cassidy or Devin."

"If you had gone Triassic, he would have." Tommy said. "Whenever you're in situations like that, the only option you really have is to just yield. You can't put innocent lives at risk even if you _know_ you can save them right then and there; it's just too risky."

"But what about that time when Zeltrax had Krista?" Conner asked.

Tommy smiled. "It wasn't as risky, plus Zeltrax didn't use her as a shield. That in turn, gave you the advantage."

"Well I…was able to…save her in time." Conner stammered.

"Are you turning red, bro?" Ethan asked, a goofy grin already spreading across his face.

"No." Conner quickly replied.

"Just askin'." Ethan said, even though he had a feeling deep down Conner was. As a result, a chuckle began to spread all over the room.

"So what do we do now?" Trent asked.

"Right now we know Mesogog has a new freak of the week, and one that, along with using electrical powers, seems to know how to go _mano a mano_ as well, so our best bet would be to keep an eye out." Tommy advised.

Conner then felt his stomach rumble. "Think you can try to call Pizza Hut again doc?" He asked.

"Can you think of something else besides your stomach, man?" Ethan asked. "I thought girls were the only things you thought about."

"Oh, and you're not starving?" Conner asked.

"Nope." Ethan replied. Then his stomach started to growl. "Okay, maybe I am."

"I'll head upstairs and try again. Hopefully the line won't be busy." Tommy said as he got up, reached for his portable home phone and started up the stairs. "Oh yeah, what toppings do you guys want?"

"Pepperoni." Conner, Trent and Ethan said in unison.

"Mushrooms." Kira answered.

"And extra cheese for me." Tommy said to himself. "Okay, I'll be back down in a sec, guys."

"Sure thing, doc." Ethan called out.

"Yo, Conner, where'd you put 'em?" Ethan asked as soon as their teacher was out of earshot.

"Put what? The photos?" Conner asked.

"No, the topless picture of Natalie Portman." Ethan said sarcastically.

"I don't remember seeing that one." Conner replied. Then when he saw Ethan give him a dirty look he smiled. "I'm kidding, man! I'm kidding!"

"Dude, you _weren't_ kidding." Ethan countered.

"Seriously, I was!" Conner shot back. "I left them right by the High School box."

Ethan walked over to the box labeled _High School stuff_ and looked around it. He then saw the bundle hidden under one of the flaps and grabbed it. "Did you look through all of them?" He asked.

"No, just up to the one where Dr. O was leaning on the tree and Katherine was leaning on him." Conner replied slyly.

Ethan then flipped through the pictures and came to the one Conner was talking about. "Speaking of leaning…"

"I know." Conner remarked.

"Are you guys just gonna look at that all the time we're here?" Kira asked.

"Ohhhh, yeah." Conner and Ethan said.

Kira lowered her head between her knees and shook her head in disgust. Trent then got up to look at the photos with the other guys.

Ethan then looked at some of the photos but they were mostly Tommy/Kat pics so he passed them to Trent for him to see. He then came to one where it showed Tommy and Kat standing by what looked like a beach. No sooner did he see Kat's swimsuit did his eyes bulge. "Uh, guys?" he asked.

"What?" Conner asked.

"You uh, might want to get me a brown paper bag, and pronto." He then looked closer at the photo. "On second thought, make that a big one."

Conner and Trent looked at the photo and instantly their eyes bulged.

"Y' know…Dr. O…he…ughhh! It's just not fair, y' know. How was _he_ able to garner the attention of one (maybe two) Power Ranger bombshells?" Conner asked exasperatingly.

"Who knows?" Ethan asked. "Although I do have to say: Dr. O was one lucky guy."

Ethan then finished looking through the bundle and passed it off to Trent.

"Having fun, guys?"

Conner, Trent, and Ethan turned around and saw their teacher standing behind them with his arms crossed.

"Oh, uhh…hi Dr. O." Conner said.

"Having a party?" Tommy asked.

"Uh…no. Actually we were…just picking up on where we left off and, well…uhhh…"

"While we were digging up some stuff, we found…these." Trent finished Conner's sentence as he hesitantly handed over the photos to his teacher.

As Tommy took the photos he then looked at them himself. However, as he did a sad smile began to break across the corners of his mouth. "I was actually wondering where these were." He said softly. "I thought I had lost them."

To Conner and the others, Tommy seemed to be talking more to himself than to them, and the way he reacted when he saw the photos was really starting to pique Conner's interest. "Old friend?" He asked cautiously.

Tommy looked at his protégé, and he quickly found himself feeling very uncomfortable. "Yeah. You could…say that."

If Conner saw signals that were telling him to just drop the subject, he didn't see them. So he pushed on. "So…where'd she go after you guys gave up the power?" He asked, remembering seeing his teacher, Kat, Adam, and Tanya pass on their powers to four other successors.

Tommy gave Conner a warning look, but when he saw Trent, Ethan, and even Kira look at him with curiosity, he knew he was trapped. So he quickly thought of the _least_ uncomfortable thing to say on the Kat subject.

"She…went off to London to start her ballerina training at the Royal Academy."

"Wait a minute, I've heard of that." Kira said. "I remember my mom telling me once her college roommate had studied there for a while, but then she went on to major in theatre. According to her, it's quite hard to get into."

"It is." Tommy said.

"Look, Dr. O, we didn't mean to look through them." Conner said apologetically. "Okay, maybe we did. But it wasn't as though we were deliberately looking for photos of you and your old friends."

"Conner, I know. It's all right." Tommy said to his student. He then glanced down at the photos. "Well, with all the junk I've accumulated over the years, you probably would've found them sooner or later."

DING-DONG!

"Pizza's here?" Ethan asked.

"Probably." Tommy said as he placed the photos by the console and started up the stairs. Conner, Trent, Kira, and Ethan followed him.

"Just sit down and act like you're talking about something." Dr. Oliver said to his protégés as they shut the door to the Dino Ruins. Conner sat on a chair, while Kira, Trent, and Ethan reclined on a sofa.

Tommy unlocked the door and saw the delivery guy holding a large pack that pizza is placed when deliveries are done. "Hi."

"Hi." The pizza boy replied. "1992 Valencia Road?"

"Yeah, this is it." Tommy said.

"Okay, I've got two medium-sized pizzas: One's half extra cheese, half pepperoni; and the other one's half pepperoni, half mushrooms."

Tommy fished out a coupon from his pocket and took out some bills from his wallet as well.

"Okay, the buy one medium, get another medium free…that's about $12.99." The pizza boy said as he calculated the price.

Tommy gave him $13.00 plus $3 as a tip. He then thanked the guy and took the pizza boxes inside.

"Uh…Dr. O, do you need any help lightening that load?" Conner asked, his mouth already watering like crazy.

Tommy smirked and shook his head slightly at Conner's expression. "Thanks Conner, but no thanks." He answered. "Ethan, there's some paper plates in the closet you can get out, Kira, if you want silverware there's some in that drawer by the stove." He said as he carried the pizza boxes over to a stove and set them there. Kira took out a bundle of napkins for everyone and silverware for herself, for she quickly saw she was the only one that would eat pizza with knife and fork first, then with the hands.

"There's still one thing bugging me though." Ethan said as he reached for his slices.

"What's that?" Trent asked.

"When that Felectro freak tried to take Cassidy and Devin hostage and then held them out in front of him as if they were shielding him. And then he dares us to take a piece of him?"

"I know." Kira said. "It's as if he _wanted_ to see if we would go ahead and try to attack him even with Devin and Cassidy in his grasp, literally."

"Look, guys, can we please eat first?" Conner said in-between mouthfuls of pizza and Sprite. "I mean, we just got our butts handed to us badly and as a result I'm not in a humorous mood and I'm hungry like a T-Rex. Can we talk about it later?" Even though he was coming off as obnoxious at that moment, Conner was really just pissed about the fact that for once one of Mesogog and Elsa's creations really mopped the floor with them without breaking a sweat. And just when Conner was about to go Triassic on the monster's ass, Felectro used human shields to try to force Conner's hand. Even though Cassidy and Devin weren't harmed, Felectro still ended up getting the last laugh.

"Translation: I just want to finish my pizza so I can get back out there, find Felectro, and pummel him six ways to Sunday." Ethan said.

Conner sighed. "Yeah, more or less." He admitted.

"But what if he tries the same thing?" Trent questioned as he finished his third slice. "I mean, this is something Mesogog could use to his advantage."

"What would that be?" Conner asked.

"Using innocent people as shields, thus leaving us unable to fight his flunkies and letting him get away with whatever he has planned." Tommy said.

"So that could also mean that if our parents or those we care a lot about happened to be around…" Conner then let it hang, for he didn't need to say more. And judging from Ethan, Kira, and Trent's faces, they knew too.

Silence then filled the kitchen for a while, but then it was broken as Conner reached for his third slice of pizza. As he feasted on it a frown crossed his face. "Y' know, it's not a question of whether there's too much pepperoni or tomato sauce, it's more around the lines of whether there's enough pepperoni and/or tomato sauce."

Needless to say, that brought a much-needed laugh among the fivesome.

Conner then looked at his teacher and saw somewhat of a far-off look on his face.

"Still think about her, doc?" he asked.

Tommy's face then turned serious. "Who?"

Conner couldn't help but gave his teacher a you-know-who-I'm-talking-about look.

"Conner, that's my business. Not yours." Tommy said sternly.

"Sorry, it's just that…you had that far-off look on your face and I recognize it because I've had that look when I see girls I like walking ar-." Conner then saw Kira give him a death glare as if to tell him it was probably a good idea if he just shut up so he quickly stopped himself.

"Okay, well I don't know about you guys, but I'm stuffed." Ethan said as he drank the last of his Sprite.

"There's still a few slices left." Kira pointed out.

"I'll put them in the fridge." Tommy said. "You never know if you might get hungry later."

"True." Ethan agreed.

Tommy took the last of the few slices and put them all in one pizza box. He then opened the fridge and put the box on the bottom shelf. After he closed the fridge he then took the other box and placed it in the trash can. As he sat down with his protégés he heard a faint _BEEP-BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!_ coming from downstairs.

"Think that guy's back for Round two?" Conner asked.

"Somehow I wouldn't be surprised." Tommy replied as he rose from his chair.

"Just let me get a piece of that freak." Ethan said as he followed his teacher. "I've got a score to settle."

"You and me both." Conner added.

A/N: Not too shabby, huh? Oh yeah, I got the idea for Kat's swimsuit from "A different shade of pink", and I gotta tell you, seeing Kat in that swimsuit...(melts). Ok, well anyway, I'm still writing Ch.8 down so it might be a while before I get that one uploaded. But until then, see ya next chaptah!


	9. Tyrannodrone Du Soleil

**A/N: "Hey! It's the dice man, with the moment you've all been waitin' for…"(gets whacked upside the head and is thrown back into the TV set.) Sorry about that guys, it seems the "dice man" from "I LOVE THE 80'S STRIKES BACK" was able to get out of my TV and on to my fic. Luckily though I was able to throw him back in before he could do any damage. Okay, well anyway, did everyone see SPD? Well, let me tell you, after watchin' it, I've got mixed feelings about it. I mean, yeah Sydney (the Pink SPD Ranger) is HOT (drools), and the idea of Z Delgado (Yellow SPD Ranger) and Jack (Red SPD Ranger, who I swear looks like Bob Marley) being underdogs is cool, but I still think the show's missing somethin'. But, then again, it's just the start of the show, so I'll stay tuned and watch a few more episodes, see if it gets interesting. Oh yeah, most importantly, I would like to thank Camigwen who inspired this chapter. Granted, all this is my creation, but reading "How you remind me" definitely set off a light bulb in my head, so kudos to you, Camigwen.**

**--**

Chapter 8-Tyrannodrone du soleil

"Wow."

For some reason, those were the only words that could come out of Kat's mouth the minute she stepped inside the gymnasium-sized building and looked around.

The main center of the building was all one giant room, with big mirrors lining the walls and a balance beam or two in some of the corners. The floor itself was so smooth; you could almost ice skate across one side of the building to the other in one stroke, and all without using ice skates. Kat then looked up and saw some banners with championship titles hanging from the ceiling. Needless to say, it was impressive.

"Can I help you?" asked a voice.

Kat turned around and saw a girl with auburn hair and a gym bag slung across her shoulder. She was dressed in a two-piece leotard with an Adidas jacket and was regarding Kat with an earnest look on her face.

"Yes. I was scheduled for an interview today and I'm trying to find the main office." Kat replied kindly.

"Well, it's over there on the right corner." The girl said as she pointed to an area that had a door and a window facing the main room, but it was partly obscured by a soda machine.

"Cheers." Kat said as she offered her hand.

The girl smiled and shook it. "You're welcome." She replied. "You're Australian, aren't you?"

"Yes. I'm Katherine."

"I'm Krista, nice to meet you." The girl said. "Are you gonna be teaching here?"

"Hopefully." Kat replied.

"Well, good luck. I hope you get it." Krista said as she hoisted her gym bag. "Well, I gotta get going. Hope to see you around." She waved as she headed for the exit.

"Bye." Kat said as she waved back and headed for the office door. After knocking three times she heard a voice say "It's open, come in."

Kat opened the door and saw herself in a small yet comfy office that had some posters on the walls and photos on the window ledge. Behind a desk that was placed in one corner was a brunette woman that looked like she was in her early thirties and was putting away some papers in a folder. As soon as she put it in a drawer she looked up and saw Kat standing by the doorway. "Oh, hello."

"Hi." Kat replied. "I didn't mean to intrude-"

"No, don't be ridiculous, come in, sit down." The woman said kindly as she gestured to a seat in front of her desk. "By the way, I'm Linda Dawson."

"Katherine Hillard, nice to meet you."

"So, how can I help you?"

"Well, I'm here about getting the assistant teaching position."

Linda's eyes grew bright with recognition. "Oh yes. Now I remember, you had called a while back looking for available dance teaching jobs." She said. "So, where had you been working before?"

"I've spent several years now at the Royal Academy in London, participating in many different productions." Kat replied as she reached into her backpack and pulled out her makeshift portfolio with her resume in it.

"Ah, yes. I know that place pretty well." Linda said nostalgically. "I had studied there for a while and after some years I came here and, well…the rest is history." She then took Kat's portfolio and began to look through it, smiling and nodding at times. Her eyebrows raised with interest when she came to the part where Kat's resume said that she had been a choreographer for the Beauty and the Beast play at London. "Very impressive." She said.

The rest of the interview went by as a typical job interview would go, with Kat answering questions and whatnot. When it was all over Linda handed Kat back her portfolio. "Well, Miss Katherine Hillard, what can I say, except…welcome to the Cosmos Dance Academy!"

"You mean…I got it? I'm in?" Kat asked, trying her best to keep her excitement bottled up for a little while longer.

"Of course." Linda said nonchalantly. "Y' know, you shouldn't be so surprised. It's people like you, with a deep kindness, limitless patience and a natural ability for teaching that make Cosmos what it is (or, what it should be)."

"So, when can I begin?" Kat asked.

"As quickly as you can." Linda answered. "How's tomorrow at 2 PM sound?"

"Great." Kat said.

"Excellent." Linda said as she rose from her chair and offered her hand. "So I'll see you then?"

"Definitely." Kat replied as she shook Linda's hand and put her portfolio back in her backpack. "Cheers."

"See you tomorrow." Linda said cheerfully as Kat headed out the door.

No sooner did Kat walk out of the door to the building did she raise her elbows, draw them back and yell out, "YES!" Even though she was optimistic about the whole thing, she still had some doubt about whether she would really do well during her interview. But now that it was done, along with the fact that she had done very well, and to top it off, with her getting the job on the spot, she was elated.

_This is definitely going to call for a late-night Tanya talk._ She thought as she walked down a sidewalk to a park that was not too far from downtown Reefside. Out of all the Rangers, she and Tanya still kept in contact with each other over the years. The former Yellow Zeo/Turbo Ranger had gone on to college and went on to major as a music producer. As a result, she had ended up working alongside artists like Brian McKnight, Alicia Keys, Richard Marx, producer Walter Afanaseiff, and even Michael McDonald at one point. In spite of her at-times busy schedule, she still managed to find time to talk to her friend, even though it wasn't cheap calling long-distance.

She had just reached the corner when suddenly an invisiportal appeared and a creature that looked like a mish-mash between a cat and a falcon, with dinosaur-looking creatures flanking it popped out of it.

"People of Reefside, please don't panic too much," Felectro said, opening his arms in emphasis. "Me and my pals are just here to place a bet." He then struck his claws into the ground, causing fissures to appear. Then all of a sudden, energy started to rise from the fissures and travel across them at breakneck speed. No sooner did they hit the far end of the cracks did they explode, causing the people nearby to panic, fall down, or just run like crazy. "And the bet is how many of you are gonna be walking out of here on both your legs." He snarled.

Kat quickly ran over to a couple that had gotten knocked over by the blast and was trying to help them to their feet when a Tyrannodrone closed in on them.

"Look out!" She yelled as it raised it's claw to strike, but Kat quickly got in the creature's path and blocked it with her left arm, then she struck the drone in it's side with a small right jab, then side-kicked it into the side of a fountain. She then turned back to the couple and helped them get to a safe distance away but as she looked back she saw more Tyrannodrones coming after them. She was about ready to tell the couple to go on ahead when colored lasers hit the drones. Kat then turned around and saw five Power Rangers rushing onto the scene. Smiling, she then quickly guided the couple to a small patio with a picnic table. "You should be safe here." She said firmly, but gently. She then turned her head curiously to watch the action from a distance.

Conner looked around to see if Felectro was nearby, but all he saw were a bunch of Tyrannodrones surrounding him.

_Guess they'll just have to do._ He thought.

"Hey, lizard-breaths. Allow me to welcome you to your class." He quipped. "It's Dino-Soccer 101, and your instructor's yours truly." He then took his fighting stance and charged towards them.

Meanwhile Ethan, Kira, Trent, and Tommy were fighting off their fair share of Tyrannodrones with very little effort. However, no sooner were they down to fighting a handful did Elsa and the White Ranger clone appear.

"I take it this means you're gonna pick up your flunkies and go?" Tommy asked sarcastically.

Elsa smirked. "I believe the saying goes: Never send a drone to do a general's job." She and the clone drew their swords and let out a battle cry. Tommy drew out his Brachio staff and the others drew out their Thunder-Max sabers and charged.

Conner, on the other hand, was standing amid a pile of Tyrannodrones that looked completely dismantled.

"Class dismissed." He said. "Looks like nobody made the cut."

"Sure there's no tryout for one more?"

Conner turned around and saw Felectro dash blindly fast at him, then the hybrid did a mini somersault and slide-tackled him soccer-style, causing Conner to fall face first into the ground.

"Conner!" Ethan yelled.

"You guys go help him." Tommy said. "Trent and I can deal with these guys."

"You sure?" Kira asked.

"Positive." Trent replied.

"All right then. C' mon, Kira." Ethan said as he and Kira rushed over to help their teammate.

As Elsa saw the Blue and Yellow Rangers head off towards where the Red Ranger and Felectro were, she smiled wickedly and then as if on cue, an ivisiportal opened and more Tyrannodrones appeared. However, instead of flanking her and the clone, they started going after the few innocent bystanders that were watching from a distance and were either too scared or too captivated to move.

"I thought you said you didn't want your drones doing your job." Trent said.

"Who said they were?" Elsa asked.

"If there's one thing they excel at, it's creating panic." the White clone sneered.

"So what's it going to be? Us…or them?" Elsa taunted as she gestured towards the people trying to get away from the drones.

Tommy then quickly glanced at Trent, then both Rangers nodded and they leaped above Elsa and the White Ranger clone and landed right in front of some of the robotic slaves. Tommy took the ones on the left; Trent took the ones on the right.

From her position by the patio, Kat could see that even though the White and Black Rangers were holding their own, they were still outnumbered. Almost instinctively her fists began to clench and an urge to go help was starting to rise up inside her. She really wanted to help them, but at the same time she knew that with no Ranger powers, she could get herself severely hurt. Then as she saw a mother and her daughter get cornered by a Tyrannodrone, her crystal eyes narrowed and she clenched her fists tightly.

_That's it._ She thought. _Zeo Ranger power or not, I can't just stand here and do nothing._ So with that she took off her backpack, left it by the picnic table and broke into a run and headed towards the drone that had the mother and daughter trapped. "Excuse me." She said as she tapped the Tyrannodrones' shoulder. Just as it turned she roundhouse kicked it in its side. The drone countered with a swipe of its right claw, but Kat swerved to the side and tornado-kicked it to the ground. This surprised Katherine because she thought she had forgotten that move a long time ago.

_Guess it is like jumping back into a pool._ She thought inwardly. She then turned to the two who were cornered and walked towards them. "Are you all right?"

"A little shaken up, but we're okay." Replied the mother.

"Those moves were awesome! How'd you learn to do that?" The girl asked.

Kat smiled brightly. "Martial arts classes."

"Thank you so much." The mother said.

"You're welcome." Kat replied. "You two better get to safety quickly."

"You got it!" Replied the girl and so she and her mom quickly rushed to a safe distance.

As soon as Kat saw they were safe she then saw some more people in trouble and rushed back to help them.

"So, what do we have here? More coaches for me?" Felectro asked tauntingly.

"In a manner of speaking, yeah." Ethan shot back.

"Last time was just a practice round. This time it's the real deal." Conner said as he raised his Triassic shield. "You guys ready?"

"Ready." Kira answered.

"You know it." Ethan said.

"Triassic Power!" Conner commanded. Ethan and Kira then concentrated, causing blue and yellow balls of energy to respectively form on their gloves. They then raised their arms towards the shield and began energizing it, thus transforming Conner into the Triassic Power Ranger.

"What do you say we go a little more techno?" Conner asked Felectro as he raised his arm with his hand open. The shield began to glow and then the area around Conner and Felectro changed. When it was done Felectro looked around and saw lights zooming by him and other lights swirling around the area like giant fireflies.

"Nice place, Red Ranger." Felectro snarled. "Though I don't know if I could afford the rent here."

"Oh, don't worry." Conner said as he twirled his shield, causing a blade to appear from its top center. "Its only a one-time deal."

Felectro then drew back his arm, and flung an energy boomerang at Conner, but he batted it away with his shield-saber. He then came at Felectro and struck him full on the shoulder. Felectro grunted in pain, and clutched his left arm. As he stared at Conner his right claw began to glow.

"So, you actually decided to put away your toys and take out the big guns, eh?" He asked. "Well, I don't suppose you'd mind if I 'crackled' things up a bit, would you?" He then drew his right arm back, and shot an energy ball at Conner. Conner tried again to bat the energy away, but this time as he struck it, the energy ball exploded, knocking Conner off balance and sending him and Felectro back to the real world.

"Conner, are you all right?" Ethan asked as he and Kira helped Conner, still in Triassic mode, to his feet.

"I've been better." Conner answered.

"Well, I've gotta say, that was more of a challenge than the last time we tangoed." Felectro sneered. "Got any more tricks kiddies, or do I have to pull some out of my claws?"

Kat felled another Tyrannodrone when she heard a scream. She turned around and saw a little boy clutching an action figure and was trembling against the side of a bench. He was staring up fearfully at a woman dressed in leather and was walking towards him with a sword in one arm.

"Ah, yes. The very epitome of a hostage candidate." Elsa said nonchalantly as she approached him. However, she was so caught up in making this boy her hostage that she didn't notice the movement coming from her left.

"Leave him alone!" Kat yelled as she jumped-kicked Elsa, catching the cyborg by surprise and causing her to fall back a few steps. Elsa then turned and locked eyes with the blond woman who had attacked her. She was surprisingly a few inches taller than she was, and was in a stance that was very similar to a Power Ranger stance. The blond then turned her face to the boy and said, "Go!" The boy nodded his head quickly and broke into a run towards the other people, where his mom was. As the blond turned her face back to Elsa the cyborg eyed her menacingly.

"I don't know who you think you are, but you just made a serious mistake." Elsa said as she did a backflip and pointed her sword at Kat, firing an energy stream at her. Kat screamed and fell to the ground. As she looked up she saw Elsa point her sword at her.

"Hopefully this will teach you _not_ to interfere with things that don't concern you." She said calmly. "Well, not that you'll live long enough, anyway."

Elsa raised her sword, and Kat braced herself for the blow. But just as the blow was about to connect, something stopped it. Elsa and Kat both looked up and saw the Black Ranger thrust out his Brachio staff to stop the blow. He then knocked Elsa's sword off and side-kicked her, but the Black Ranger wasn't through. He then twisted the handle on his weapon and yelled out, "Brachio staff, wind strike!" As he struck the ground with his staff a gust of wind began to blow towards Elsa, sending her flying into the air and causing her to land right on top of the White Ranger clone who was busy fighting Trent. As he turned around he saw the woman trying to get up. He quickly put his staff back in his holster and bent down to help her.

"Are you all right?" He asked gently.

"Yeah. Just a little winded." The woman replied as she raised her head to look at the Black Ranger. No sooner did she do that did he freeze completely.

A/N: Ahhhhh. The power of cliffies. Don't you just love 'em?


	10. A chance encounter or just a hallucinati...

A/N: I got Starfox: Assault! I got Starfox: Assault! (Calms down) Sorry guys, but I've spent the past few days playing the game and I gotta tell you, IT IS BADASS! Play it! You won't be disappointed! Also, thanks to everyone for all the reviews! I would also like to thank Higuchimon (Why'd you change ya pen name?) for putting my story on her C2 archive (That really means a lot.). Speaking of which, if you T/Kt fans are thirsty for more, you should check the archive out. Also, there are two fics that I've read that really go a little more in depth into this couple; "Unanswered Prayers" and "In his arms" (The first one you'll find on the Paladar web site). As before, I've read both of them, and let me tell you, they really explain as to why _this_ couple meshes a great deal more than Tommy/Kim ever could, but don't take my word for it. Oh yeah, last but not least, if you really want to read a _good_ fic, read "Interview with a Power Ranger" (Can only be found on Paladar). There's some stuff in there you might find pretty interesting, and there's a pairing in that fic that I'm sure many people haven't thought of.

Chapter 9-A chance encounter or just a hallucination?

--

_Oh, I thought that I'd, never see you again_

_Like all good things, it had to come to an end_

_But tonight out of nowhere, you appeared like a dream_

_It's like no time apart, it's a sweet feeling_

Soul Violins

Performed by Hall & Oates

From Our Kind of Soul

--

Time stopped.

As far as Tommy was concerned, he felt like everything just completely froze around him and he was just moving in slow motion.

He had been fending off a few Tyrannodrones a few moments before when he had heard a woman's scream. He then looked to his left and saw Elsa fire a laser blast at a blond-haired woman, knocking her to the ground. His face twisted in anger as he saw Elsa point her sword at the woman's face. Seeing as how he was a good distance away Tommy quickly looked to see if anyone was close enough to stop Elsa, but Trent was busy trading blows with his evil clone, and Conner, Kira, and Ethan were still fighting Felectro. Tightening his grip on his Brachio staff and gritting his teeth underneath his helmet, Tommy broke into a run and headed straight for Elsa at top speed.

_Not gonna make it, not gonna make it._ He thought fearfully. Then as he saw Elsa raise her sword, he leaped into the air, did a somersault, and thrust out his Brachio staff to intercept the blow. As Elsa looked up in surprise he then knocked her sword off, then he side-kicked her in the stomach causing her to stagger back.

_Time to finish this._ He thought as he twisted the handle of his weapon. He continued to twist it until the arrow on the handle pointed to a tornado symbol. "Brachio staff, wind strike!" He commanded as he brought the staff down to the ground. Suddenly a gust of wind kicked up and sent Elsa flying through the air and right into the White Ranger clone. As he turned around he saw the woman struggling to get up. He quickly put his Brachio staff back in its holster and knelt down to help her to her feet.

"Are you all right?" He asked gently.

"Yeah. Just a little winded." The woman replied as she raised her head to look at him. As she did Tommy's eyes bulged and his jaw dropped open underneath his helmet. It was as if he had just grabbed a hold of a million-volt power line; every cell in his body was tingling.

_It can't be._ He thought as he supported her. He then blinked his eyes a few times to see if he was just imagining her, but it quickly turned out that he was not. Even as she got up he still kept his eyes locked on her. Even though it had been nine years since he last saw her, she hadn't changed much. She still had that long flowing hair that looked like a flame of pure gold, deep sapphire eyes that shone with a wisdom that many could only hope to attain, and a curvaceous figure that was beyond description…

_Snap out of it, you idiot! Now's not the time!_ His mind yelled. Even though he heard it in his mind, he still felt like he was rooted to the spot.

"Are you okay?" Kat asked, her Australian accent coming out slightly.

"Uh…yes." Tommy replied, trying to mask his voice as best he could. "Are you?"

Kat's eyes narrowed a little bit in curiosity. There was something…familiar about this Ranger, but she couldn't quite place it. "I think you already asked me that." She said teasingly.

"Oh, uh…right." Tommy replied. He still couldn't get his legs to move, but he was able to talk calmly though. "Y' know, you could've gotten yourself hurt."

"I know," Kat admitted. "But…I couldn't just-"

TSEEEWWW!

A laser blast hit the ground, temporarily blinding the Black Ranger and Kat and sending the two to the ground. Once the smoke cleared, they both looked up and saw a rather pissed-looking Elsa pointing her sword threateningly at them. Although it seemed that she was pointing the sword more at Kat than at Tommy.

"Y' know, I don't know what upsets me more, Black Ranger." She said. "The fact that _you_ always seem to get in my way or the fact that this nobody-of-a-bitch had the nerve to take me on. And who do you think you are anyway? A Power Ranger wannabe?" She asked Kat.

Kat didn't say anything. Even though a leather-clad cyborg with a nasty-looking sword was staring her down, she didn't show any fear.

Elsa saw this and smiled wickedly. "Well, well. Still going to keep the defiance up, even in the face of your own doom?" She then raised her sword. "Fine with me."

Tommy then saw his chance and kicked Elsa in her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Kat then took advantage of this and knocked her sword off with her right leg. Tommy then kicked Elsa with both his feet and was able to use the momentum to propel himself back up on his feet again. He then drew his Brachio staff and gripped it with both hands.

"Looks like you're the one who needs to drop the defiance, Elsa." He said. "Brachio staff, energy orb!" He then raised his staff and rotated it clock-wise, creating a giant orb as he did so. When he was finished, he hurled the orb directly at Elsa, hitting her point-blank. Elsa shrieked, falling to the ground. When she got up she saw the Black Ranger and Kat staring her down.

"Don't get too excited, Black Ranger." She snarled. "This is only a mere setback, and as for _you_," she said pointedly at Kat. "You only got lucky, so smile while you can, because the next time I see you, there won't be enough of you left to bury." She then gave the blond woman a final death glare, then disappeared through an invisiportal.

The Black Ranger then turned to Kat. "Are you hurt?"

Kat shook her head. "No."

"Good." Tommy said gently. "Look, me and the other Rangers still need to clean up here, think you could get some people to safety while we finish this?"

"Of course." Kat replied as she rushed off to help.

"Miss," The Black Ranger called out, causing Kat to turn around. "Thanks."

Kat smiled her bright smile, then rushed off. As she did Tommy kept staring at her, a million emotions already beginning to spiral out of control in his mind. However, as he heard his students cry out he quickly buried those emotions down and rushed to help.

Felectro and the White Ranger clone had teamed up and were doing a barrage of attacks on Trent, Kira, Ethan, and Conner. The clone did his dash-attack, and then Felectro leaped into the air, raising his legs in front of him as he did so. He then brought his upper torso back so he was basically lying on his back in midair. His body then began to spin as he shot feet-first towards the four Rangers, hitting them with pinpoint accuracy. When Felectro landed on the ground he then looked at the Rangers and laughed.

"You definitely held your own this time, kiddies." He scoffed. "But all the same, you still ended up with your backs to the wall, or in this case, to the ground. And while it probably wouldn't take too much to finish you off now, I think I'll recharge my batteries for next time. After all, as you humans would say, 'Three times is the charm.'"

"Don't count on it!" Tommy yelled as he leaped in front of his students to face Felectro and the White Ranger. He then drove his Brachio staff into the ground. "Wind strike!" He called out. A gust of wind then kicked up and began to knock both the Ranger clone and the hybrid off their feet. Felectro tried to flap his wings to counter it, but the chilling wind seemed to overpower him and he and the Ranger clone went toppling backwards.

Tommy then adjusted the handle on his Brachio staff. "Earthquake!" He then drove his staff into the ground, causing the earth to shake and fissures to form around Felectro and the clone. The Black Ranger then twisted the handle again until the arrow pointed to a flame symbol. "Flame strike!" He commanded as he drove it into the ground again. All of a sudden flames then traveled in a straight line and spread across the fissures towards the evil duo. Felectro and the White Ranger clone reeled from it and fell to the ground. Staggering to get up, Felectro locked eyes with Tommy.

"Next time, Rangers." He hissed. "Remember that." He then raised his claw and disappeared along with the Ranger clone into an invisiportal.

"Are you guys okay?" Tommy asked his protégés.

"A little." Conner replied, still staring at the spot where Felectro had stood.

"Next time, dude." Ethan assured him.

"And it looks like the 'drones went with them, too." Trent pointed out.

Tommy was about to say something when an applause erupted from the nearby onlookers and bystanders. He and the other Rangers then looked around and saw crowds of people just cheering: Men, women, and children, although the kids were the ones who were cheering the loudest.

Conner, who had been feeling despondent up until this point, felt his spirits rise up a little bit as he saw the jovial looks on so many people's faces, namely on the little boys and girls as they looked at him and the others with awe. Finally a smile crept over his face as he continued to look at the makeshift audience. Then he felt Dr. Oliver's hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, we better get back."

"Right." Conner replied. "Triassic power down." He said as he grasped his Shield of Triumph in both hands. Almost instantly the gold plating on his helmet, shoulders, and morpher, along with the purple color patterns on his costume disappeared, with the shield fading last. He and the others then raised their morphers to their faces and spoke their respective commands.

"Raptor cycles, online."

"Black ATV, online."

"White ATV, online."

People then began to turn in wonder as they saw the Ranger's vehicles rolling onto the scene. A couple of kids' eyes bulged as they saw them and one kid yelled out, "I want one!"

Conner couldn't help but smirk a little at that comment as he and the others mounted their vehicles.

_Personally, if I was his age and I saw a badass cycle, I'd probably be clamoring for one too._ He thought.

Ethan, for his part was smiling brightly underneath his helmet as he waved at some of the people.

Kira's eyes were wide and her mouth was partly open. While she was used to having people applaud whenever she was performing a song at the Cyberspace, that was still nothing compared to this.

Trent, on the other hand, was feeling slightly awkward and nervous. However, as he saw the gratitude on people's faces, he smiled warmly and serenely and waved.

Tommy also had a serene smile on his face as he looked both at his protégés and the people. The way they reacted began to remind him of a time many years ago, during his White Ranger days when he and the others had to appear on TV once. Needless to say, he had been both excited and a little nervous at the same time. But once he saw the people's faces and saw their admiration and respect for him and the other Rangers, any nervousness he had had vanished.

It was as Tommy glanced at some of the kids in the crowd that he sensed something. It might have been a sixth sense he had gotten over the years, but he couldn't help but feel as if there were another pair of eyes looking at him. Not in a general, Ranger-fan way like the treatment his students were getting, but at _him_ specifically. As he looked back in front of himself he saw _her_.

She was standing by a patio with a warm smile on her face. Her beautiful sapphire eyes were shining with a heavenly light as she gazed at him with curiosity. Once again Tommy felt a great deal of feelings begin to course out of control within him, but luckily though, he was able to keep them under restraint with ease. However, that didn't stop his mind from being flooded with questions. One that kept nagging at him was whether she recognized him or not. The only other one was whether she knew he lived in Reefside.

_Come on, Tommy._ His mind snapped. _Get a hold of yourself. Other than the day of the Countdown you haven't seen or spoken to her in nine-years-going-on-ten, and she didn't look like she recognized your voice…or at least I don't think she did._

He then turned his head from the crowd and gunned the engine on his ATV and followed Conner's lead along with the others. As soon as the team reached a safe distance they accessed the hyperdrive on their vehicles, causing them to go at a speed of Mach I. In no time they found themselves heading towards the secret entrance that lead to the Dino Ruins.

_Still,_ Tommy thought as he entered the hangar bay doors. _Could that really have been her? I mean, seeing as how I've been having strange dreams that seem to have her in them, I could have been just hallucinating._

No sooner did he think that did he quickly kick himself mentally.

_Ughhh…what the hell am I talking about? If I was so sure I was hallucinating, then why did I keep seeing her face even after I blinked several times? Why is it that, try as I did, I still kept seeing those…lovely crystal eyes? Or hear that soft, sexy accent that only Katherine could have…and why is it that, even now, I still see that angelic face burned into my mind?_

--

A/N: Whew. (Drinks a whole gallon of fruit punch Gatorade) Ahhh! Well, that was intense. So what do you think? Good so far? Oh, yeah before I go to sleep, I figured I'd let you guys to know that I've got a project in my computer class coming up this week so as a result, there might not be an update for a while. But don't fret, I'm not abandoning the fic. As soon as I'm done with that, I'll morph back into action!


	11. Reflect chats times three

A/N: I'm back everyone! Okay, I know it's been practically two months since my last update but what with my project (and my midterm that I took the week after), I had my hands full. I ended up getting C's on both, sadly. But those are the only C's I've had in the class, everything else has been A's & B's all throughout. Now on the writing side, I've had some writers' block while I was working on this chaptah. That's why it took a while. Oh yeah, on a side note I made some edits to Chapters eight and nine, plus I changed the song bit (is that how you say it?) in the last chapter as well. Y' see I was digging through some of my CD's and while I was reading the liner notes for Hall & Oates' new album I saw the lyrics for the song "Soul Violins". After I read the lyrics I saw that that song, or at least the lyrics anyway went with the chapter a lot better than the lyrics in Jon Secada's "Get me over you", so…Anyway, that's enough rambling from me, let's go & get this party started!

--

Chapter 10-Reflect chats X 3

--

Felectro was growling to himself as he, the White Ranger clone, and Elsa entered the main room of the island fortress.

"May I be so straightforward as to ask what had happened out there?" Mesogog asked calmly with a demanding undertone.

Elsa kept a stony expression on her face as she tried to think of the best excuse she could muster. Unfortunately though, she couldn't think of any. So she said the only thing that could come to her mind.

"We had the odds in our favor, Lord Mesogog." She said. "Unfortunately it seemed that the Rangers got crafty at the last minute."

"And almost got the best of you, even of _you_ as well, Felectro." Mesogog supplied as he glared at the hybrid, who had his head semi-lowered.

"The only reason they had their lucky shot was because the Black Ranger saved them at the last minute." Felectro said. "Nothing more."

Mesogog frowned as he glared menacingly at Felectro. "I have heard that many times before, and the end result that I always get is remnants of destroyed experiments." He then snarled. "Why should I expect anything different now?"

"The Rangers may have gotten a breather thanks to their teacher, but that doesn't mean they'll get a similar chance next time." Elsa replied confidently. "Next time will be completely foolproof."

"Interesting you should say that, considering the fact that you had been so caught up in making one puny human a hostage that you let your guard down. So much to the point that you not only allowed a civilian to attack you, but you allowed her to get the better of you." Mesogog pointed out. "And it wasn't even a Power Ranger."

Elsa lowered her head in disgust. Just hearing about the scuffle she had with the blond woman were enough to make her want to hit something. Then when she heard Mesogog say that the civilian wasn't even a Ranger, she quickly let her anger drain away as a look of realization crossed her face and she raised her head to face her leader.

"Actually, my lord, I'm not so sure of that."

"What do you mean, 'not sure'?"

"About the civilian." Elsa answered. "When she first attacked me I _was_ caught by surprise, but as she fought me her moves were very accurate and precise; almost…Ranger-precise."

Mesogog huffed. "Are you sure by chance you weren't _completely_ caught off guard?"

Elsa clenched her fists for a moment before answering. "Absolutely not, my lord." She said steely. "As I said before, the woman's moves were too precise to have been moves learned from self-defense classes, and usually a normal person would have kept their distance or run off. She didn't do anything of the sort. Instead she stood her ground." A stern look then crossed her face.

_And I would have been able to give her a permanent lesson had that miserable Black Ranger not interfered_.

Mesogog paced around his flunkies for a while, then as soon as Elsa was done he then turned and faced her.

"Are you implying that the woman you fought was probably an ex-Power Ranger?"

Elsa locked eyes with her master. "Master, you know I don't presume…"

"Elsa," Mesogog said threateningly. "You know I don't like to repeat myself. So for the second and last time, answer the question."

Elsa grumbled. "Maybe." She replied.

Mesogog hissed and he walked away from Elsa and then turned to face her.

"Whether she is or was one, you had your guard down none the less. If the next time you almost get defeated by a civilian, I won't wait for that person, Ranger or not, to defeat you. I will personally drag you out of the fight via invisiportal and do it myself. Understand?"

Elsa grudgingly shook her head. "Yes, my lord."

"Good." Mesogog then walked towards the main doors that led to his chambers. "Make sure that you three get the job done next time, and eliminate anything or anyone that gets in your way." he said as he disappeared into the doubled doors.

As Elsa saw her master disappear she then turned around and faced Felectro and the White Ranger clone. "Let's prepare for the next strike." She said.

As she and the others walked to a planning table the fight with the blond woman flashed unconsciously in her head. Elsa mentally fumed to herself as she unconsciously replayed the fight in her mind, but then as she thought about what Mesogog had said before he left she then began to smirk.

_Ranger or not, I just hope that, for her own sake, that bitch doesn't get in my way again._

--

Katherine stepped into her hotel room with a Taco-Bell bag in her left arm. As she closed the door and locked it she then placed the Taco-Bell bag on the small table and her backpack on her bed. As soon as she did that Kat then walked over to her table so she could have her makeshift dinner of one Chalupa supreme, and a small Sprite. Once she was done Kat then put the wrappings back in the brown Taco-Bell bag and placed in the trash. She then walked over to her bed and collapsed down on it in exhaustion. As she glanced up at the ceiling she found herself reflecting on what happened today: Her arriving in America again after nine years…her showing up at Reefside which, to her felt like a twin sibling to Angel Grove for some reason…her going for the job interview and getting it on the spot…her not only witnessing a monster attack, but getting dab smack in the middle of it as she fought off a few of those disgusting lizard-creatures…to her trying to save a boy's life by going _mano a mano_ with some woman…to her almost getting her life cut off short only to have it saved by a tall, mysterious Power Ranger in black.

_Looks like when I said that Tanya and I would have a lot to talk about, I wasn't kidding._ Kat thought to herself. No sooner did she think that did she remember something.

_Speaking of which…_ She thought as she reached for her backpack, which was right beside her. As she opened one of the small pockets she rummaged through it until she pulled out a small phone book. Kat then opened it and flipped through the pages until she came to Tanya's phone number. She then reached for the phone that was on the bedside table and dialed the number.

--

_"I'm never gonna dance again, guilty feet have got no rhythm, though it's easy to pretend, I know I'm not a fool…"_

28 year-old Tanya Sloan was at her apartment washing the dishes as Brian McKnight's version of "Careless Whisper" floated from her CD player in her living room. Luckily though the music wasn't blaring off the walls so she was able to hear the phone ring. She put down her glass as she dried off her hands and walked over to pick up the phone.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Tanya?"

"Oh, hey Kat!" Tanya said enthusiastically. "What's up girl? It's been a while since we last chatted."

"I know." Kat replied nostalgically.

"So tell me, how'd the flight go?" Tanya asked earnestly. When Kat was contemplating moving back to the States a year ago she had told Tanya about what she was going to do. Tanya, more than happy to talk and hang out with her best friend again, and this time on the same continent, asked if she could help out by tracking down some dance schools on the internet and sending them to her. Kat accepted, and within a few days Tanya sent her a _large_ list of California's dance schools via e-mail. Unbeknownst to the former Yellow Zeo/Turbo Ranger, Cosmos was on that list.

"It was great." Kat replied. "We had to land at Mariner Bay though, but it wasn't too bad."

"You had to land at Mariner Bay? What happened to Reefside's airport?" Tanya asked, perplexed.

"Well, from what I know, it seems they had to close it down because part of it was horribly trashed by some monster."

"Whoa." Tanya said. "Seems like in every city in California at one point, there's always gonna be a sicko (or two) waiting to turn it into a Charcoal briquette."

"I know, tell me about it." Kat replied.

"So, how were you able to get to Reefside from there?"

"Well luckily Mariner Bay wasn't _too_ far from Reefside, so once I got off the plane I found I was able to take an express bus to get there. So I did and once I got there I was able to hail a taxi and go straight to Days Inn from there." Kat answered.

"Did you have the interview today or is it some other day?" Tanya asked.

"Today. A while after I crashed in my room, I went to Cosmos for the interview."

"And?"

Kat stayed silent.

"Hello? You there Kat?"

"Yeah. I'm here."

"So tell me, what happened?" Tanya asked anxiously.

"Well…let's just say…I got it." Kat answered cheerfully.

"You got it? On the spot?"

"Mm-hm."

"Well, that's excellent! That's great!" Tanya exclaimed jovially. "Y' know, I knew you'd get the job."

"Me too." Kat replied. "So, tell me. How have you been?"

"Well, I've been cutting my teeth-and some demos over here. Plus I even had the chance to work with Michael McDonald quite recently."

"Really?" Kat asked curiously.

"Yeah. I mean, it wasn't anything BIG, but I was able to help out with some of the Programming and I even contributed backing vocals on the one he sang with Toni Braxton."

"Is it on that new one…Motown two?" Kat asked.

"Yeah, that's the one." Tanya supplied. "Although sadly I had to end up doing the programming here. However, Michael was kind enough to drop by FROM Tennessee with his wife to see how it was going, and he offered me the chance to go with him back to Tennessee to finish the programming and do the backing vocals." Tanya sighed nostalgically. "It was definitely one hell of an experience."

Kat smiled. "I can imagine."

"Oh, I know." Tanya said. "But it was just great working with him and Toni on that song and the album itself."

Kat laughed. "So, are you doing anything for Thanksgiving?"

"Well, I'm going to go over to my folks' place for Thanksgiving tomorrow, plus I got a call from Adam saying he'll be on his way back from Korea Friday so we'll have our _own_ Thanksgiving over the weekend."

"That's good to hear." Kat said.

"Y' know what? Why don't you come over for the weekend?" Tanya asked. "We could hang out and catch up on old times."

"Sorry, Tanya. I wish I could, but I start work at Cosmos tomorrow." Kat said apologetically. "But how about a rain check?"

Tanya smiled on her end. "All right. Sounds good to me."

"Great."

"Oh yeah, one last thing, how's the city sights?"

"Well, I have to say, Reefside is definitely interesting." Kat answered. "And in some ways-no, make that in a lot of ways, it reminds me of Angel Grove for some reason. Particularly with what happened this afternoon."

"What happened?" Tanya asked.

"After I left Cosmos after my interview, I was on my way to go get some lunch when all of a sudden, a creature that looked like a panther, along with some disgusting lizard-like creatures appeared and started attacking everyone."

"Were you alright?"

"Yeah, I was okay, but when I saw one of those things get near a couple, I…"

"You just acted on instinct and fought that creature and protected the couple as though you were back in the pink armor?" Tanya supplied.

Kat sighed. "Yeah, pretty much."

Since she was talking into a cordless home phone, Tanya went into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. "Now I'm gonna take a guess that there was more that went down, wasn't there?"

Kat sighed again. "Nothing gets past you now, does it, Tanya?"

"It's called best friends' intuition, Kat." Tanya replied.

"Again, pretty much." She said, answering her friends' question. "After I helped the couple to safety, I saw the Rangers show up."

"Well, that's always good."

"It's just that not too long after they showed up, more of those lizard-creatures started showing up. From what I saw, the Black and White Rangers were pretty outnumbered."

"So…in essence, you got a Ranger complex at that moment." Tanya guessed.

"Look, I know it sounds crazy, but I couldn't just…sit there. So I just went in there and helped as best as I could." She then let out a chuckle. "I guess old habits _do_ die hard, even after nine years."

"And while you were doin' that, no freakazoid tried to 86 you?"

Kat swallowed, hard. "Well, there was that woman who looked like she had stolen clothing from that Matrix movie. She was trying to take a small boy hostage, so I just acted instinctively and attacked her. She looked a little surprised, but then she struck me with some energy beam, knocking me down. I admit, she was pretty close to killing me, but then somehow the Black Ranger was able to get there and stop her."

Tanya sighed. "Girl, you are so lucky he was able to get there in time."

"I know." Kat replied. Then suddenly images of the Black Ranger coming to her aid and helping her to her feet flashed unconsciously in her mind. "Hey Tanya, you mind if I tell you something?"

"Sure." Tanya said.

"When the Black Ranger helped me to my feet, and I looked at him in his visor, I…felt something."

Tanya's eyes narrowed in surprise. "Okay, what exactly did you feel?"

A puzzled look crossed Kat's face. Even she couldn't quite place it. "I don't know…it felt like this…like there was some connection or something."

Tanya sighed. "Kat, are you sure you're not suffering from T.A.S.?"

"T.A.S.?"

"Tommy Angst Syndrome."

"Tanya! It's not that!" Kat countered, even though she, like Tanya sensed that it might be.

"Are you sure about that?" Tanya asked slyly.

"Positive." Kat said as firmly as she could.

"Okay Kat, whatever you say." Tanya said. "So what happened after that?"

"After he saved my life, he went to go help his other friends mop up. After that, they got what looked like motorcycles and ATVs and just…took off."

"So you really _had_ gotten a Ranger complex during all that, did you?"

Kat sighed defeatedly. "Yes, guilty as charged."

"It's okay. Besides, I think we all get those every now and then."

"Definitely." Kat said as she remembered her days as the Pink Morphin, Zeo, and Turbo Ranger.

"So did you go anyplace else?"

"No. After that I figured I'd head back here to my small suite and relax a little bit."

"Makes sense." Tanya replied. "Oh yeah, what time do you start tomorrow?

"At two o' clock, but I'll see if I can get there a little early."

"All right. In that case I'll let you go. Call me tomorrow after work lets out."

"Will do, Tanya. Bye." Kat said as she hung up. As she put the phone down she then put both her hands behind her head and stared up at the ceiling.

"_Are you alright?"_

Once again the images flashed in her mind. As she saw them Katherine wondered why was the Black Ranger familiar to her for some reason. Then she thought back to the way he moved, and the mannerisms as well. Then as she put it all together it seemed a little _too_ familiar. Suddenly a crazy thought hit her.

_Oh, come on, Kat. What are you thinking? Tommy, back? In black this time?_ She then chuckled. _Maybe Tanya's right. Maybe you are suffering from T.A.S._

--

"Whew!"

Conner wiped some sweat from his forehead as he put up another flattened box on top of a pile. Even though he, Ethan, Trent, Kira and Dr. Oliver had sorted through a great deal of stuff, there were still some boxes that needed to be emptied out.

"Okay, that's 10 down, 15 more to go." Ethan said as he looked at the remaining boxes that were unopened.

"Make that 11 down, 14 to go." Trent said as he dragged a flattened box that, while empty, was still a little heavy for him. Conner then picked up one end and both guys then hurled the box onto the pile with ease.

"Now that's what I call up and over." Conner quipped.

"You can say that again." Trent said.

"Good job, guys." Dr. Oliver said as he walked up to his protégés. "I really appreciate it."

"Hey, anytime, Dr. O." Ethan said earnestly.

Tommy snuck a peak at his watch. "It's 7:18 right now, do you guys want to…go home or…"

"Well, I admit, I am feeling a little bushed for tonight." Conner said as he yawned and stretched out a little bit. "But not too much."

"You may not be tired bro, but I am." Ethan remarked.

"Well, take it from me guys," Tommy said, "We were all pushed a little more than we usually were."

"Yeah." Ethan replied. "But…I gotta say doc, seeing all those people applaud…I mean, its like we were at a video game competition, a rock concert, the World Cup, and a big-cheese comic convention all at once."

"I think I know what you mean, Ethan." Tommy said knowingly. However, as he said that an image of him looking at Kat unconsciously flashed in his mind, causing him to go blank for a few moments.

"Dr. O? You in there?" Conner asked.

Dr. Oliver stayed silent.

"Helloooo?"

Tommy quickly snapped himself out of it. "Sorry, guys. I must have blacked out all of a sudden."

"Yeah, you kind of did." Kira pointed out.

_Twice now, in fact._ Conner thought. Even though he could see that his teacher/mentor was trying to shrug it off as nothing, Conner had a pretty good feeling as to what might be going on in his teacher's mind, and what, or who he was thinking about. And judging from the look on Ethan's face, _he_ too was picking it up somewhat.

"Again, sorry. It's just that…I haven't been getting much sleep lately."

"Well, if you want, we can go." Kira suggested.

"Oh, c' mon, and leave Dr. O here to empty the rest of this stuff?" Conner asked rhetorically.

"Well actually, I'm gonna call it a night." Tommy said. "Those other ones can wait for tomorrow."

"All right, well, in that case, we're out of here, then." Conner said.

"Again, thanks a lot, you guys." Tommy said.

"Don't mention it Dr. Oliver." Trent replied.

"Good night, Dr. O." Kira said.

"Good night."

"See ya tomorrow, doc." Ethan said. "You'll be here tomorrow, right?"

"It's a holiday for both students _and_ teachers, Ethan." Tommy supplied.

"Oh yeah, I forgot."

"Oh yeah, doc?" Conner said as he reached the stairs to level ground.

"Yeah?"

"It's nothing wrong to think about an old friend. Or, at least I don't think."

Tommy sighed and gave Conner a warning look, to which Conner quickly threw his hands up in surrender. But as he headed up the stairs, Tommy could have sworn he heard his student chuckle. He then sighed and walked over to some of the "neatly" arranged paraphernalia that he and his protégés had taken out of the boxes.

Maybe it was instinct, or maybe he just wanted to spite himself by putting himself in a brooding mood, but he somehow found himself looking for the photos he had seen Conner and co. looking at earlier. Surprisingly enough they were lying right on top of his diploma.

As he started to look through them he flipped through a few of them with a nostalgic smile on his face. But then as he came to a picture of Katherine his smile faded.

"_Are you alright?"_

"_Yeah, I'm just a little winded…"_

It was just no use. No matter how much he tried to dismiss the encounter as just something his mind was playing a trick on him with, his heart was telling him he hadn't been seeing things.

_But, if that was her, what's she doing here? Not that I'm upset about it, far from it, but does she know I'm living here? What brought her back here?_

As those questions and more began to flood his mind, one unexpectedly popped into his mind.

"_Still think about her, doc?"_

Tommy sighed slowly, and as he stared at the picture he then sighed defeatedly.

"At least one moment of everyday."

--

A/N: Y' know, I thought it was gonna take me another week to finish this. Now I'm sure some of you are wondering, where's Hayley? Well don't worry, she's in this fic. It's just that she's got a cyber café to run, she can't always be down at the Dino ruins. Now in the case of Conner's annoyance and him bugging his teacher about his love life, namely Kat, here's the deal: Conner may not be the smartest guy on the planet, and he still has a little bit of the "dumb jock" in him, but since he's gone out with girls before, and seeing as how he's starting to develop feelings for a certain auburn-haired girl, he can tell pretty well, or at least suspect that Dr. O may still think about Kat a great deal. And he doesn't seem to be alone in thinkin' that either. Now as when my next update will be, I don't really know. Seeing as how I got exams comin' up soon, I gotta get ready for those. Hopefully once I'm done with that I'll get back to writing up the next chap.


	12. Ballerina Girls

Chapter 11-Ballerina Girls

--

_Man, winter's just around the corner, and yet it already feels like the middle of June._

That thought was pretty much the only thing running through Kat's mind as she walked up to the double doors of the dance school, hoping it was air-conditioned enough to counter the heat of the sun as it beat down on the ground mercilessly. Luckily though, the A/C system was on full blast so Kat quickly felt cooled down the minute she closed the doors. No sooner did she close them did she hear "Angel" from Lionel Richie playing from somewhere in the building.

As she stepped further into the building she saw Linda Dawson in a leotard doing what looked like a Pilates technique and she seemed to be doing it in tune with the song, which was coming from a small boom box in the corner of the giant room.

It looked like Linda was finished, for she then relaxed herself and picked up her bottle of water to take a sip. As she did she turned around and saw Kat standing there.

"Oh, hi Kat!" Linda said cheerfully.

"Hi, Ms. Dawson." Kat replied.

Linda laughed. "Please, call me Linda. Mostly everyone does." She then looked at her watch. "It's 1:50, you're a little early, don't you think?"

"I know, but I just like to be a little early than late." Kat replied. "Oh yeah, where is everyone?"

"Two of my other teachers just arrived right before you did. They're in the locker room changing now, so they should be out shortly." Linda said as she walked over to the boom box to stop the music. As she walked back then looked at her watch again. "And speaking of which, we should have some of our students arriving soon."

"All right then. In that case I'll just head into the locker room and get changed, and then I guess I'll…get myself situated." Kat said.

"Okay, then. I'll see if I-oh, here they come."

Kat then turned around and saw two women walking towards them from the locker room. One was a woman about as tall as Kat, with jet-black hair and emerald green eyes. The other was a petite Hispanic girl with light brown hair and eyes that looked so amber-like, they looked like honey. Both were dressed in one-piece leotards and looked very self-assured, but Kat could somehow see that they were both different. During all those years at the Royal Academy, Kat had learned to pick up a few things about people personality-wise, and she could somehow see that the Hispanic woman appeared very much reserved and passive, while the tall brunette looked a little more cocky and straightforward.

"Hello, Linda." Said the petite girl.

"Oh, hi, Jessica. Hi Victoria." Linda replied respectively.

"Who's the new girl?" Victoria asked.

"Oh, yes. I'd like to introduce you to our newest teacher, Katherine Hillard. Katherine, this is Victoria St. John and Jessica Velasco."

"Nice to meet you." Kat said as she extended her hand and Jessica shook it warmly. Victoria on the other hand gave a half smirk, but she still eagerly shook Kat's hand. "Likewise."

The main double doors then opened and girls who looked like they were in their teens began to enter the building.

"Well, it looks like they're starting to show up already." Linda observed.

"Right. Well, I'll go get changed, and come back out."

"All right, I'm gonna have you help Victoria's class out today."

"Okay." Kat said as she headed in to the locker room.

As Kat came out of the locker room she saw that the girls who had come in had already gotten themselves settled and were busy stretching out. Plus there were also more girls coming in as well. Among one of them was a girl Kat recognized somewhat, for she had met her only the other day.

As the girl set her gym bag down on the floor, she then raised her head and saw Kat. "Hey!"

"Hello." Kat replied. "Krista, right?"

"Mm-hmm." Krista said. "So…I take it you got the job?"

"More or less."

"Well, congratulations." Krista said sincerely.

"Thanks."

"Okay everyone, split off into your respective groups and teachers." Linda spoke out.

Kat saw Victoria standing in one corner of the ballet room and was already ushering her group over to her. Kat then walked over and as she stood next to Victoria she noticed Krista standing amongst Victoria's group. Krista noticed Kat and smiled warmly.

"Okay, so, is everyone here?" Victoria asked as she looked at some of the girls in her group. After some nods she then nodded herself. "Alright, then-oh, yeah before I forget, allow me to introduce you to our newest teacher, Katherine Hillard."

"Hello." Kat said.

"She's going to be assisting me today and I'm gonna ask all of you to give Miss Hillard the same respect that you give me, Miss Velasco, and Miss Dawson. Is that understood?"

The girls nodded.

"Alright then. Well, in that case, let's get started."

--

An hour and a half later, Victoria dismissed the class and Kat walked over to the water fountain to get a drink. As she headed back to the center of the room she found Linda talking to one of the students, then the latter thanked Linda and left. Linda then turned around, saw Kat and smiled.

"So, how was your first day today?"

"Oh, it was great, no problem."

"So what do you think of this place so far?"

"Honestly, I think it's really great what with the way you have it all set up." Kat then paused and took in the whole interior again. "Y' know, I really think I'm gonna like it here."

"Glad to hear you say that." Linda said.

"You're welcome." Kat answered. "By the way, is this the only class we're having today?"

"Today, yeah." Linda replied. "Seeing as how Thanksgiving Day is today, I felt it was best that we have a short day so everyone can go home tonight and spend time with their families, myself included."

"Mmm." Kat nodded.

Linda then took another look at her watch. "Oh, damn!"

"What is it?" Kat asked.

"I have to get home soon. I forgot I promised my brother I'd help him out with stuffing the turkey."

"Oh." Kat said. "Well, I'll just go and change quickly and I'll get out of your way."

"It's okay, take your time. I have to put some things away before I lock up anyway, so…"

"Ok." Kat then walked over and picked up her gym bag that she had tucked by a corner of the wall and headed off to the locker room to change. When she came out she saw Linda locking the door to her office.

"Ah, just in the nick of time." Linda said as she picked up her backpack and walked with Kat to the double doors.

"So Kat, do you have any plans for Thanksgiving?"

"Wish I did." Kat replied. "Sadly my family's all mostly back in Australia and my parents moved back to it from Angel Grove a few years ago."

"So, were you born here or…"

"Oh, no. I was born there in Surrey Hill. It was after a couple of years that my father received a job transfer in Angel Grove and me and my mum moved with him."

"So it's not your first time being here in the U.S., or California, for that matter?" Linda asked.

"Oh, no." Kat answered nostalgically.

"Well, don't you know anyone who lives in the neighborhood that you can stay with for Thanksgiving?"

"Here in Reefside? No." Kat answered. "Plus I had already blown most of my savings money buying a ticket to get here." Surprisingly enough Kat had been so focused on getting the job here in the U.S. that she hadn't really thought about going to go see friends and family for Thanksgiving, even though she had the chance to go see her parents a few times before they moved back to Australia.

"Well, you gotta have someplace and/or someone special to have Thanksgiving at, or…with." Linda said.

A semi-sad smile then unconsciously began to spread across Kat's mouth. "Believe me Linda, I wish I did."

As Linda locked both doors from the outside, an idea popped into her head.

"Y' know what? I think you may have."

Kat raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"There's a place just outside downtown. It's more of a teen hangout, but even adults say they like that place, namely Jessica and Victoria, to name a few. It's got a techno, 80's style/comic book shop theme, but it's a very cool hangout spot. Plus they're having some kind of Thanksgiving party today until closing time, so…"

"Hmm. What's the name of the place?"

"It's something…something cyberspace…oh yeah! Hayley's Cyberspace."

"Hayley's Cyberspace, eh?"

"Yeah, so if anything, you should go check it out."

A/N: For the record, I know absolutely nothing when it comes to ballet moves or even gymnastics moves, although I do wish I knew some gymnastics moves though. (Yo, c'mon, even us guys can do gymnastics too.) Oh yeah, did I get Kat's birth city right? Because sometimes I hear she's from Sydney, then I hear she's from Surrey Hill, so…if I didn't let me know, along with any other mistakes you might find. Oh yeah, on a final note, it's been hellish over here in Florida, or namely MGM studios, where I work. Namely because the Episode 3 H-bomb went off last Wed. night at 12:01 AM, so everybody's pretty much gone SW-insane. ((Sarcastically) What a shocker, right?) Now being an Anakin/Padme fan, I'm not really a fan of Episode three that much. Of course, that doesn't mean the film sucks, it's just mega-sad. Well…anyway, enjoy this chap and stay tuned for more!


	13. Talking turkey

Chapter 12-Talkin' turkey

"Okay guys, now just move that side a little bit like that-ah ha! That's great."

"Hayley, are you sure we got this thing straight this time?" Conner asked as he and Dr. Oliver took the hooks on their respective sides (Conner on the left, Tommy on the right) of the banner and fastened them to the ceiling.

"Definitely." Hayley replied sincerely. For the past 15 minutes she had been coaching Conner and Tommy how to properly hang a _Happy Thanksgiving_ banner on the ceiling, and the guys weren't having much luck, or at least up until now.

As soon as his side was secured, Conner breathed out a sigh of relief as he climbed down his ladder. "Finally."

"Oh, come on, Conner. After helping me out last night and this morning with the boxes at my house, this should be a breeze." Tommy said to his student as he climbed down himself.

"Oh, believe me doc, it is." Conner answered. It had been around 11:00 this morning when he had gotten a call from Ethan saying that he, Trent, and Kira were going to Dr. Oliver's house to help clean out the rest of the boxes at the Dino Ruins. Conner had then jumped into his car and drove over there to help. By the time he got there his teammates were already sorting through the last ones so he helped Ethan out with his box. At one point Conner almost wanted to "indirectly" say something regarding Katherine but decided against it…unless of course, he found something Kat-related in any of the boxes.

By the time 2:00 rolled around, the fivesome were done, and it was actually just in the nick of time, for Trent had to go on ahead to the cyber café to help Hayley out with the Thanksgiving party she was having tonight. Ethan then asked if he could go with him to help, followed by Kira and then Conner. Dr. Oliver also volunteered to come along, saying that between the six of them they could actually get the place ready quickly than two. Trent wasn't one to turn down help, so he accepted.

Now, two hours later, they were just getting through putting up the banner, which was the last thing Hayley needed before she opened the cyber café to start the party.

As soon as he was on level ground, Conner then took a look around, drinking in the entire decorated café. It wasn't a complete makeover, for it still had it's signature retro, comic-book art look, but there were also Thanksgiving decorations like scarecrows in the middle of the tables, and on some parts of the ceiling were _Happy Thanksgiving_ banners. Another interesting decoration was that some of the computer screens had a screen saver on them that showed a little boy dressed in green chasing after what looked like a white chicken. Then the screen went to that same boy running away from a mob of chickens chasing after him. On some of the other computers, the screen savers showed a scarecrow doing some kind of funky dance.

"Yo!" Ethan beamed at Hayley as he saw the screen savers. "You were actually able to put some Zelda stuff in there? Sweet!"

"Dude, I thought you liked that other game you played, what was its name-Wizard Book." Conner said as he looked at the screen that had the scarecrow doing its funky dance. As he saw it move in rhythm to some background music that he could only imagine was a video game tune of some kind; it was all he could do not to start laughing himself.

"It's called Wizard _Wood_, Conner." Ethan countered. "And yeah, that game _is_ pretty tight, but it doesn't hold a candle to Zelda, it just doesn't. Especially when there's a new one in the works for the Gamecube, and unlike the 'Toon Shading' they used in Wind Waker, this ones' like Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask times 10. Besides, I've already downloaded the whole trailer from that E3 convention I saw online. And as soon as I find out when I can reserve my copy, It'll be GameStop time for me."

Conner sighed. "OK, whatever, dude." He said as he patted his friend on the shoulder.

"It wasn't too hard to program them onto the screen." Hayley said as she answered Ethan's question. "Besides, the dancing scarecrow and Link chasing Cuccos looked fitting enough for this Thanksgiving, and as Ethan saw, there's going to be a new Zelda coming out next November, so…"

"Wait a second, it's gonna take _that_ long?" Ethan asked.

"Afraid so."

"Damn."

All of a sudden the back door opened and Trent stepped out, wearing an apron and carrying a large pot with a turkey in it. "Hayley, it's done, where's the oven?"

Hayley walked behind the counter where she then quickly opened up an oven that was right behind Trent. He quickly turned around, put the turkey in and shut the oven door.

"So, I take it you had no problem with the stuffing and whatnot?" Hayley asked.

"No, not a one." Trent replied as he took his cooking gloves off.

"Whoa, wait a minute, _you_ put the stuffing in the turkey?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah." Trent nodded as he took off the apron.

"I mean, the stuffing, seasoning, all that-"

"The whole thing."

Conner had more of a half-surprised, half-skeptical look on his face. "No way."

"Way."

"But, dude, how'd you learn how to…?"

"Back when my real parents were alive, I'd watch how they'd do it, and after a few years I finally asked them if they could show me how to cook a Thanksgiving dinner, even if was at least a small version of it." Trent smiled nostalgically as he hung up his apron on a hanger by the back door. "So they showed me how, and the next thing I know I'm whipping up a mini-feast. So now when my dad and I have Thanksgiving, I'm the one who does the cooking."

"Aren't you going to have Thanksgiving with him tonight?" Kira asked.

Trent shook his head. "Not this year. But he was kind enough to supply some of the Thanksgiving stuff though." Even though that was true, another reason Anton Mercer couldn't have Thanksgiving with his adopted son this year was also because he wasn't so sure if he could keep Mesogog from taking over his body again if he did. So he told Trent to go and have Thanksgiving at the cyber café, and to not worry, for he'd even help supply some of the Thanksgiving stuff they'd need, like the turkey, cranberry sauce and whatnot. "Trent, believe me, nothing would please me more than to have Thanksgiving with you, but…it just can't be done this year. Now just because I can't celebrate Thanksgiving this year doesn't mean you can't either. Thanksgiving isn't just having a sit-down at a table and eating turkey and such with just one person. It's a holiday, like Christmas, where you go and spend time with those you care for, whether they are family _or_ friends. So go and enjoy yourself. I'm not about to let you ruin _your_ Thanksgiving on my account. I may have been an only child when I was your age, and I may have made mistakes in wanting what's best for you, but I do know this."

"That was nice of him." Conner remarked.

"So, you can actually cook?" Kira asked.

Trent couldn't help but blush slightly. "Among other things." He said nonchalantly as he smiled at her.

Conner sighed and rolled his eyes in amusement as he saw the exchange between the Yellow and White Rangers. Dr. Oliver, on the other hand, smiled a gentle smile as he saw the exchange himself. Ethan however, was too busy watching the screen savers on the computers and humming a Zelda tune to himself to even notice.

Hayley then heard a knock and saw that there were some people, teens and adults waiting by the front doors. She then motioned for Trent to come over and they both walked over to the doors, where Hayley unlocked one of them. As she did, she then motioned for the people to step back from the door a little bit so she could open it.

"Good evening, everyone." She said. "Well, the good news is you won't have to wait out here anymore, for me and some very generous individuals have just gotten through putting some finishing Thanksgiving touches, so I think it's safe to say…let the party begin!"

No sooner did Trent open the other door did everyone just start filing into the place like fans at a rock concert. In no time at all music came on and people started sitting down at the tables and even at sofas to watch some TV. Hayley had programmed it so it could pick up channels that were giving Thanksgiving specials, like ABC Family, and even VH-1 classic was giving a Thanksgiving special.

"Oh yeah, Tommy, were you able to get the fruitcake?" Hayley asked.

Tommy's eyes furrowed a bit. "Fruitcake?" Then all of a sudden a feeling of realization hit him and he hit his head lightly on his hand. "Uhhhgg! I knew I forgot something!" He grumbled.

"What did you forget?" Conner asked as he and Ethan came back carrying plates that had slices of turkey, cranberry sauce, and sweet potatoes.

"Fruitcake." Tommy and Hayley answered.

"Dr. O, you never ever have Thanksgiving without the fruitcake, that's like playing Halo II without the cool vehicles and having to fight the Covenant with only a pistol."

"Tell me about it." Tommy replied. "Hayley, could Publix be by any chance open?"

"More than likely, no." Hayley answered. "Wait, the Wal-Mart down on 17th street might be open."

"It's Wal-Mart. If it ain't open, then we are in an alternate reality." Tommy said as he reached into his pockets for his keys. _Besides, it's at least probably the only place that sells fruitcake that doesn't look like somebody else had already eaten it._ "I'm gonna go and get the fruitcake, you guys enjoy the turkey and stuff in the mean time."

"Oh, don't worry Dr. O, we are." Ethan said as he chowed down on his sweet potato.

Tommy shook his head and laughed a bit. "I'll be back in a bit, guys." He said before he headed out the door to the parking lot where his jeep was.

"Oh yeah, where's Kira?" Ethan asked in between mouthfuls of sweet potato.

"Right over there." Conner said as he gestured with his head towards an adjustable table that Hayley had put out earlier so people that had brought in food would be able to lay them out there. That way anybody who was hungry could just walk up, grab a plate and utensils, and just help himself (or herself) to some entrees. Trent and Kira were by the table getting some food and talking to each other as they went.

"Okay, y' know, why doesn't the dude just ask her out already?" Conner asked.

"Who knows?" Ethan replied as he saw the two Rangers talking. As he did he started thinking back to when he and Cassidy were "hanging out" and he wanted to have a picnic/date with her but he didn't know how to go about it. Luckily though Conner, Kira, Trent, and surprisingly enough Dr. Oliver were able to help him not be so hesitant, and even though things between him and Cassidy never took a romantic turn sadly, Ethan had no regrets about it.

Once it looked like they had gotten enough food, Trent and Kira then walked over to where their friends were.

"Where'd Dr. O go?" Kira asked as she sat by a table near the counter where Ethan and Conner were.

"Forgot the fruitcake." Ethan and Conner supplied.

"Ooohh." Trent mused as he took his seat opposite Kira.

--

_Y' know, it's interesting that when it came to getting ready for the party you could forget one entrée Tommy, particularly one that may not be the most well-received._ Tommy thought as walked out of the cyber café and turned left towards his jeep._ Ah, my infamous faulty memory strikes once again._ _Well, hopefully Wal-Mart didn't sell out of fruitcake completely; otherwise I may as well head back in._ He thought to himself again as he got in and started the ignition. As he pulled out of the parking lot and got ready to turn at the corner he looked at the right side to see if any cars were coming. Then when he looked at his left side his jaw dropped partly open, his eyes widened, and he quickly found himself tightening his grip at the wheel, but neither the jeep nor he could move, for at that moment a tall, curvaceous, crystal-eyed blonde-haired woman was coming just right up the opposite corner.

A/N: (Chomps on Cheerios) Man, I really have got to stop putting cliffies on almost all my chaptahs. Well…anyway pig y'selves out on this chap, and leave some room for second helpings!


	14. Two souls alone, two pairs intertwined

AN Bulletin! Before you go _any_ further you must read this! (Okay, you don't really have to, but it might help.) For starters, I went back and made a few changes to the last part of Chapter 12 (I made the change a day after I submitted the chapter, so some of you might have already seen the change). Plus I listened to you guys and changed Kat's birth city to Surrey Hill, as it _should_ be. Also, remember when I said that Leap of Fate's "Amends" was one of the things that inspired this whole story? Well, a large chunk of this chapter was inspired by that fic.

--

Chapter 13-Two souls alone, two pairs intertwined

--

_Then the rainstorm came, over me_

_And I felt my spirit break_

_I had lost all of my, belief you see_

_And realized my mistake_

_But time through a prayer, to me_

_And all around me became still…_

…_Through the rainstorm came sanctuary_

_And I felt my spirit fly_

_I had found all of my reality_

_I realize what it takes_

_I need love, love's divine_

_Please forgive me now I see that I've been blind_

_Give me love, love is what I need to know my name_

"Love's divine"

Performed by SEAL

--

If Katherine thought that encountering a panther/falcon hybrid, along with several disgusting-looking lizard creatures was weird, that was nothing compared to what, or much rather, _who_ she facing at that moment.

After she and Linda exited the dance school Linda gave her directions as to how get to Hayley's Cyberspace from Cosmos. As she said goodbye and saw Linda drive off Kat looked at the scrap piece of notepad paper where Linda wrote the directions on. At first Kat decided not to, for she felt that, seeing as how she was still new in town (this being only her second day in Reefside), she would feel slightly out of place if she went.

_Oh, come on, Kat. Quit inventing excuses for yourself. Since when has being a newbie ever stopped you from doing or going to someplace cool? Besides, what exactly are you going to do when you get back to your suite anyway? Snag one of those frozen turkey dinners from the corner 7-eleven?_

So with that Kat made her decision and headed to Hayley's Cyberspace, reading the directions closely as she went.

_Besides, it's not like I'm going to run into anyone familiar there… much as I'd like to._

About a half hour later Kat had gotten to a street corner that, according to the directions written on the paper, once you made a right, Hayley's Cyberspace would be on the right-hand side. As she turned on the corner she saw a small yet spacious parking lot surrounding a large, one-story building with Thanksgiving decorations all over.

_A lot like Angel Grove._ Kat thought to herself as she looked at the cyber café, it's look reminding her of a different city, and of a different Youth center that, back in the day was the hangout spot for her and the rest of her Ranger friends.

Seeing as how she was at the place Kat then took the scrap piece of paper and put it in her backpack. But as she raised her head to look in front of her she then saw a black jeep pulling out of a nearby parking space. As Kat walked closer she noticed out of the corner of her eye the jeep wasn't moving at all, and the ignition was on. Curious, she turned her head slightly to look and found herself staring right at the face of someone that looked all too familiar.

It was the face of someone she didn't think she would ever see again, a face that even to this day she would still think about every now and then, a face that had been forever burned into her heart and soul.

"Kat!?" Tommy asked, never loosening his grip on the wheel.

At that moment, Kat couldn't move. For half a second she wondered if she was even breathing.

Tommy then turned off the ignition and stepped out of his jeep, walking towards her _very_ slowly. "Kat?" He asked again.

Kat then snapped out of her trance and tried to look eye to eye at Tommy, but she couldn't stop herself from drinking in the sight of him from head to toe. He was dressed in a black T-shirt with a green plaid shirt on top with blue jeans. His hair was cut mega-short and was spiked, much to her surprise, and there was a small goatee line running from the bottom of his lip to his chin, but even despite that one giant difference with the hair, Tommy couldn't have looked more handsome.

Or, at least, as far as Katherine was concerned.

_C' mon, Kat, enough already!_ Her mind screamed as she tried desperately to nip those thoughts in the bud. "T-Tommy?" She asked, her Australian accent coming out completely as she said it.

"Uhh-yeah." Tommy replied, already feeling a slight tinge of awkwardness, but he quickly forced it down. Even though he had already seen her in his Black Ranger guise, that was still nothing compared to actually standing in his civvies looking at her face-to-face. In spite of himself he couldn't help but want to wrap her up in a hug.

And apparently, Kat was thinking the same thing too, because the next thing she knew she had her arms wrapped around Tommy's upper torso before he could say anything else. Almost instinctively Tommy wrapped his arms around her slim waist, returning the hug.

"It…Kat…it's good to see you again." Tommy said, his voice slightly muffled against her long flaxen hair.

"It's…been a long time, Tommy." Kat replied.

"I…I mean…wha…what are you doing here?" He asked incredulously once they parted. A semi-wide grin of surprise and wonder was all over his face.

"It's…kind of an interesting story." Kat answered. "In fact, I could almost ask you the same question."

"Well, I think you said it best, 'It's kind of an interesting story.'"

"Can only imagine." Kat said.

"Yeah…Oh, damn! My keys…" Tommy quickly opened the door to his jeep, fished out his keys and pocketed them.

"Nice to see some things don't change." Kat said sarcastically.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Tommy replied. "Well, um…" Tommy then ran his hand through his hair nervously. "Were you…on your way to the party at Hayley's?"

"Yeah…I guess you could say that." Kat said.

"Well, they just started the party, so everyone's settling in and laying out food and stuff, so…"

"Where are you going?"

"Oh, I gotta head to Wal-Mart, I forgot to bring fruitcake for the party."

"Ooooohh." Kat mused.

"Yeah…"

For a couple of seconds that seemed to feel like hours, a silence began to hang in the air between the two of them.

"Kat-"

"Tommy-" They both said respectively at once.

"No, go ahead, you first." Tommy offered.

"Okay…is it ok if…I mean…would it be okay if I came along with you? I mean, I just recently arrived here, so I don't really know my way around, and seeing as how there's a Thanksgiving party going on in there, the least I can do is bring something to contribute." She then smiled. "Besides, we could use the time to catch up on things. That is, if you don't mind."

"No, of course not…I mean…yeah, sure." Tommy agreed. He then motioned for Kat to follow him as he walked over to the right side of his jeep and opened the door for Katherine to get in. As soon as she was, Tommy then closed the door for her and walked over to his side of the jeep and got in as well. Once he was seated he turned on the ignition and hooked up onto the opposite highway.

"So, what…brings you to Reefside?" Tommy asked.

"Well…" Kat began. "I guess I just felt that, after having spent so many years at the Royal Academy and already beginning to experience a great deal outside of it, it was time for me to go and kind of…break out on my own, make a fresh start, you know?"

"Yeah, I know the feeling." Tommy said matter-of-factly.

"So, about a year ago, I began sending mail to dance schools inquiring about any possible teaching positions, with a little help from Tanya, of course."

"You still keep in contact with her?" Tommy asked as he stopped at a red light.

"Oh, yes." Kat replied. "Of course, it hadn't been easy, what with it being long-distance and all, but hopefully Sprint won't be cashing in too much on our phone talks now."

"How's she doing?"

"She's been doing fine, in fact she was going to her parent's house to have Thanksgiving this year, plus if I remember our last conversation, I believe she told me she had a nice collaboration with Michael McDonald quite recently."

"Get out of here!" Tommy said in a disbelieving tone. "Seriously?"

"Mm-hmm." Kat said.

"Was it on one of those two Motown CD's he recorded?"

"I believe it was the second one…Motown two I think it's called." Kat answered. "She helped out with the programming and did some backing vocals on the song Michael did with Toni Braxton."

"Man." Tommy said. "Wish I could have been there." Tommy then looked on his left side on saw a Wal-Mart in the distance. He then turned onto the left-turn lane and seeing as how the left-turn light was green he quickly made a left turn.

"So anyway, going back to looking for dance schools, you lookin' to teach ballet?"

"Pretty much." Kat replied. "Actually it was about a couple of weeks after I sent the mail that I got a response at the Cosmos dance academy here at Reefside. It turned out they had an opening for an assisting teacher position, so I packed my bags and made my way here."

"You said you got here just recently. When was it?"

"It was actually yesterday." Kat replied. "However, the airport here was closed because of some monster attack, so as a result, we had to land at Mariner Bay International."

"Mmm." Tommy mused, thinking back to when the second Terrasaurus monster had gone on a complete and total rampage after stripping his protégés of their powers. Among the places affected was Reefsides' airport. Luckily though, Tommy had recovered from his coma just in time to help his students get their powers back and destroy the creature. "Yeah, I remember that."

Kat turned her head. "You were actually there?"

_Not _at_ the time, but later._ "Yeah." Tommy answered nonchalantly as he pulled into Wal-Mart's parking lot and began looking for a parking space. "I was actually on my lunch break and was driving downtown at the time when it happened. Luckily though the Rangers showed up and cleaned it out."

"The legacy continues…" Kat said nostalgically.

"Yeah, that's for sure." Tommy agreed.

After heading down a couple of rows Tommy finally found a space they could park in.

"So where'd you go to stay at? I mean, if you've only been here for two days…?"

"Oh, I was able to get a small suite over at Days Inn. It's not much, but until I can get an apartment here, it'll have to do." Kat replied.

Tommy nodded solemnly as they pulled into the parking spot. "So, when's your interview with Cosmos?" He asked as he turned off the ignition and they got off the jeep.

"Oh, I had the interview with them just yesterday." Kat answered as they walked together to the Wal-Mart entrance. "Apparently Linda Dawson, the head of the dance school, was so impressed that she gave me the job on the spot."

"So, it wasn't as difficult as you thought it would be?" Tommy asked knowingly.

"No, not really." Kat replied. "Although I'll admit, I was a little bit worried, but once I heard her say I got the job, I was more elated than you could know."

"Oh, I can imagine." Tommy said remembering his own interview with Reefside High. "So, when do you start?"

"Actually I started today." Kat replied. "But since it was Thanksgiving today, we had it short, which is a pretty good idea because that way everyone could do what they want to do, and yet they can still go home and spend Thanksgiving with their families."

"That's for sure." Tommy said as he and Kat entered Wal-Mart and headed for the Bakery section. "Wait, if you've only been here for two days, how did you know about the Thanksgiving party?"

"After class ended, Linda and I were talking about Thanksgiving, and she mentioned that there was some party going on at a café place called Hayley's Cyberspace. So she gave me some directions and well, here I am." Kat answered. "Besides, having a one-person Thanksgiving feast isn't what I would call celebrating."

"And it shouldn't be," Tommy said. "Because if you're only celebrating a holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas by yourself, no friends or family, then it's not a holiday."

"Exactly." Kat agreed.

Tommy then looked around the Bakery section in hopes of finding one fruitcake that looked like it hadn't already been handled by thousands of hands. Unfortunately, a lot of them were. "Good grief, did a fruitcake tornado pass through here or something?"

"There should be at least one someplace." Kat suggested.

For the next couple of minutes Tommy and Kat then looked thoroughly through some of the racks/shelves to find a decent-looking fruitcake. Finally Kat saw one that was placed so far in the back, that unless one took out all the other packaged-yet-still-mangled cakes, you wouldn't see it. "Tommy, come here. I think I got one."

"Really?"

"Really, Really." Kat replied as she held up a nice-looking strawberry fruitcake package for him to see.

Tommy was flabbergasted. "Well, it looks like you did a better job of finding one than I did." He said as he turned his head towards a rack that had been horribly rearranged.

"So it seems you two were able to find a fruitcake that wasn't crushed?" asked a Wal-Mart employee as he placed two packages of apples on an empty rack.

"More or less." Kat answered.

"Well, actually, she was the one who found it." Tommy said as he gestured towards Kat.

"Well, either way, good for you guys. 'Cause mostly some of the other customers have had to buy (and are probably going to eat) mashed fruitcake with their Thanksgiving dinner."

"Man." Tommy mused.

"Well, Happy Thanksgiving you two." Said the employee as he headed off to someplace else in the store.

"Same to you." Kat said earnestly.

"Come on, let's go pay for this before my students start to wonder if I just took off on them."

"Students?" Kat asked curiously.

"Oh yeah. In fact, speaking of which, I haven't told you _my_ story." Tommy said as they made their way to one of the ten-items-or-less register. "I'm teaching now."

"You mean, martial arts…?"

"Oh no, sadly, no. High school science."

Kat's eyes widened a little bit. "No way."

Tommy just nodded. "Ohhhhh, yes."

Now it was Kat's turn to be flabbergasted. "Well, I always knew you had a talent for teaching, but science?" Her azure eyes narrowed questioningly but jokingly. "You and Billy didn't switch brains at any point during these nine years, did you?"

Tommy laughed. "Oh, no. I may have gotten a little smarter over the years, but not _that_ smart." He then shrugged and smiled nostalgically. "Y'see, while I was in college I decided I'd go all the way and get my Doctorates."

Kat's eyes widened completely. "A Ph.D.?"

"Yeah, in paleontology, of all things." Tommy answered as the cashier rang up the fruitcake. Instantly the bill came up and Tommy fished a few dollar bills out of his wallet. Once the fruitcake was paid for Tommy thanked the cashier, and then took the change as well as the bag and he and Kat then made their way to the exit. "Pretty interesting, huh?"

Kat shook her head in amazement. "Yeah. I mean, like I said before, I knew teaching came naturally to you, but I never thought you for being one to dig up dinosaurs, or teaching high school science."

"Well, I guess you could say that even though Billy and I didn't switch brains, I rubbed off him a little bit."

--

"Okay, _now_ I will say that I am officially stuffed." Ethan said as he came walking back to where his friends were after dumping his plate in the trash can.

"I'll second that." Kira supplied as she took a sip of her sprite.

"Me three." Trent said.

_Burp!_

Suddenly all three Rangers looked at Conner, who was tapping his hand on his sternum. "Excuse me."

"Conner!" everyone said.

"What? I said 'excuse me'!" Conner said.

"Conner, next time you're going to do that, turn your head, or at least let us know." Kira countered.

"Okay, all right! Sorry." Conner said. "But I'll have you guys know that in some European countries, a belch is actually a compliment."

"Yeah well, not here it isn't." Ethan said.

"Okay, whatever, guys." Conner replied, already knowing that he couldn't get his friends around to his point of thinking. He then sighed in exasperation and reached for his Coca-Cola. As he drank the last of it, he noticed out of the corner of his eye an auburn-haired girl sitting at an empty table.

"Umm, guys?" He asked. "I hate to bail out on you, but I think I'll go and party over there."

"Where?" Trent asked.

"Oh just…over there." Conner gestured nonchalantly towards his right, which happened to be right where the girl was.

_Please, let 'em have my denseness for once…_

Now, unlike Conner, who could be naturally dense, Kira, Trent, and Ethan weren't stupid, and as soon as they looked where he gestured (which had _some_ people talking and what not), they instantly knew why he wanted to go over there.

Trent sighed. "Conner, if you want to go talk to Krista, just do it already."

"Dude, I didn't say I was going over there to talk to her." Conner stammered.

"No, you didn't _not_ say it." Kira said with a mocking grin on her face.

Conner quickly found himself turning as red as his T-shirt as he looked from his friends to where Krista was sitting at.

"Bro, either you go over there or we're gonna shove you her way, take your pick." Ethan said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Okay, okay I'm going." Conner said as he took his cup and put it in a trash can. As he saw Krista's table up ahead he swallowed his pride and walked over to her. Even though he could've sworn his feet were held to the ground by sticky tack.

_Come on, man. Get a hold of yourself; it's only Krista. _He thought. _You've been able to talk to her before. Why the hell can't you just walk over there like nothing?_

Apparently someone had not been too careful with his/her drink and spilled some soda and ice over where Conner had just stepped, because the next thing Conner knew he lost his balance, staggered, and fell butt first to the floor. And right where Krista was, too.

From their distant table Trent, Kira, and Ethan saw the whole thing unfold, and they were trying extremely hard not to laugh. Ethan had to cover his mouth to hide the goofiest grin on his face, while Trent was just shaking his head in pure, utter amusement. Kira on the other hand was just trying to muffle her giggles and failing miserably.

_And this is Conner McKnight, David Beckham/Franz Beckenbaur wanna-be? Also man of a thousand dates and he goes all Clark-with-kryptonite-wearing-Lana on Krista?_ Ethan thought. _Man, I'd hate to see the dude in love._

"Are you okay?" Krista asked as she got up from her chair and tried to help Conner to his feet.

"Yeah, I just tripped, no harm done." Conner insisted as he took Krista's hand to help himself up. "Hi."

"Oh, Conner, hi." Krista said earnestly.

"Uhhh-hi." Conner repeated.

"So you decided to come to the party too, huh?" Krista asked.

"Pretty much." Conner replied. "Well actually, Hayley needed some extra hands to help decorate the place and get everything ready so my friends and I decided to come here early to help. So pretty much everything you see around here is courtesy of yours truly and company." He said as he gestured his left arm around the cyber café, finally gesturing towards his friends as he finished.

"Wow, well, I have to say, you guys did a pretty good job." Krista remarked as she looked around.

Conner smiled. "Thanks." He said sincerely. "Oh yeah, speaking of parties, what brings _you_ to this party?"

"Well, I figured before I went home I'd stop by here and see what was up, drink some soda, have a little bite to eat, talk to friends…even sweet ones." She included.

Conner blushed and chuckled slightly. "And have you had any luck in doing that?" He asked.

Krista just smiled. "I'll let you know." She said teasingly.

"You know, I never thought I would see the day when Conner would find himself going somewhat gung-ho-less than how he would usually be when it came to girls." Ethan remarked to Trent and Kira as he saw Conner and Krista talking.

"Well, we all saw how he got when Zeltrax had kidnapped her." Kira replied, remembering how Conner had tried to stop Zeltrax from kidnapping Krista the first time, and wasn't able to. As a result he then started to doubt as to whether he could save Krista or not, and in comparison to how Krista was always so passionate about whatever she was doing that she wouldn't let anything stop her, he wondered if whether he _really_ had it in him to be a Power Ranger or not. Luckily though Dr. Oliver came through and told him that there was a great deal more potential he had yet to tap into, but _he_ had to believe he deserved it. As a result, Conner was able to unlock his battlizer powers and was able to send Zeltrax running; and quite literally at that, too. Later on Conner went with Krista to see that instead of putting a new parking lot the school board was planning on planting a new tree to replace the one Zeltrax had stolen.

"_Look, I know I was a jerk, but…people can change…if given the chance."_

And with that Conner willingly volunteered to plant the new tree and in a subtle way to the other, Conner and Krista made a toast to new beginnings.

"Actually, you know what?" Kira asked. "In a way…I don't know, they kind of look cool together."

"Well, 'opposites attract', or so the saying goes." Trent said as he saw the two interacting himself.

"Trent?"

Trent turned around. "Yeah, Hayley?" He asked.

"I hate to drag you away, but could you give me a hand for a minute? I've got some deserts in the fridge and freezer that need to be taken out, and there's more than what I can carry."

"No problem." Trent said. He then looked at Kira and smiled. "I'll be right back."

"It's okay, take your time." Kira said.

"Alright." Trent said, shooting Kira a sheepish grin as he got up from his seat and went behind the counter to help Hayley out.

"Well, well. Looks like everything's turning out to be a good Thanksgiving so far," Ethan remarked as he took a seat by Kira. "And no Elsa, White Ranger clone, or that MegaMan Zero villain copycat in sight." He whispered.

"Ethan, I don't mean to quote Conner, but do me a favor and try not to jinx it, okay?"

"I wasn't going to." Ethan said, already catching on to the subtext and realizing it would probably be better to just shut up and not mention Felectro or the others.

"Okay, everyone, can I have your attention please?" Hayley asked.

Trent then rang a bell that was on the counter, which got pretty much everyone's attention.

"Thank you, well before anything, I would just like to say thanks to all of you for coming and for making this party happen," Hayley said. "Because that's what Thanksgiving is really all about; a time for family and friends and being able to give thanks for having them in our lives. Because of that, I would like to say thanks again to all of you for coming, for as I said before, _you_ made this party happen; to those of you who brought their own entrees, thank you; that really helped make the party a little more interesting; and interestingly enough I would also like to say thanks to Dr. Anton Mercer, who while unfortunately he couldn't be here, he did help supply some of our Thanksgiving supplies." She then took a breath. "And last, but most certainly not least, I would especially like to thank Conner, Ethan, Trent, Kira, and Dr. Tommy Oliver for their help, for without them we wouldn't have been able to get the preparations for the party done." She then beamed at the four teenagers who then smiled and waved.

"Well, the reason I wanted to get everyone's attention was because me and my helper Trent just got through getting the deserts out and you can come up and get some if you want. Also, the clear area by where the sofas used to be will be open for dancing, so if you don't want desert and you're in a dancing mood, get your partners ready."

So while Trent served the guests and stayed near the food to make sure food fights didn't ensue, Hayley walked over to the clearing and took the red tape off, unblocking the whole area. She then walked over to her stereo system, turned it on and put it on random play. Once music started to come out of the speakers she then turned around and she saw some kids and young adults already settling in and either dancing to the music or standing by the walls and talking. Satisfied, Hayley then walked back to where Trent was and gave him a hand serving the guests.

"Aren't you gonna get some desert?" Ethan asked as he came back with a small portion of marble ice cream cake.

"No, not really." Kira replied. "Besides, I still have a dinner of mine at home to go to."

"Okay, well, whatever you say." Ethan said. After taking his second bite, he then looked at his watch. "Hmmm. That's weird, Dr. O should have been back by now."

Kira then took a look at her watch. "Yeah, what's keeping him?" she asked.

"I don't know. Hope he gets back soon, though."

After a couple of songs played on the stereo, a romantic ballad, "Help me find a way to your heart" started to play off the speakers. Almost instantly more couples, namely the adults, started to fill the makeshift dance floor.

Trent heard the song's intro and almost instinctively he looked in Kira's direction, even though she was looking at the other couples dancing.

"Y' know, if you want to ask you-know-who to dance, I don't think you can do it from behind the counter."

Trent then turned around at the sound of the voice and saw Hayley standing behind him with a knowing look on her face. He didn't need to look at her twice to know what she was implying. "You sure?" He asked.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of things here. Go on ahead." She said.

"Thanks Hayley." Trent said and he slowly exhaled and made his way back to the table where Kira and Ethan were.

"Kira?"

Kira then looked up and saw Trent looking at her. "Oh, hi Trent. Back already?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Trent replied.

"So I take it Hayley relieved you of your desert-serving duties?" Ethan asked, trying to sound casual and semi-sarcastic, even though he already knew as to _why_ Trent came back over to the table. As he took a quick glance at Kira he could have sworn that in those hazel eyes a part of her was hoping that Trent was off his serving duties for the night.

"Yeah, that's one way of putting it." Trent answered, also trying to sound casual, but finding himself looking more at Kira than at Ethan when he spoke. "I mean, she told me to go on ahead, and that she'd be able to handle things, which is kind of-I mean, which is why I'm over here." He then took a deep breath. "Kira, there's something I want to ask you."

"What is it?" Kira asked, her tone becoming somewhat shy-like.

"Kira," Trent began. "I was just wondering…if maybe you'd like to…dance?"

Kira smiled brightly. "I'd love to." She said, offering her hand. Trent gently took it and led her to the dance floor, although they both had to hurry a little bit before the song ended. Luckily though the singer, Daryl Hall was just getting through the first line so as soon as Kira and Trent found a spot, they were able to get comfortable.

From a distance, Ethan grinned as he saw Trent lead Kira to the dance floor. "Way to go, Trent. Way to go." He said to himself. He then got up from his chair and took a seat by the computers with the Zelda screensaver so he could have a better look.

Trent then slid his arms around Kira's waist and she wrapped her hands around his neck. In no time at all they were both lost in the moment, slowly letting the lyrics echo in their hearts as they looked in each other's eyes.

_Another day and I'm spending  
__Time alone  
__I called your place but there's  
__No one home  
__I've been laying low but I'm  
__Thinking of you  
__Out there by yourself, trying to find  
__Something new  
__Girl I thought what we had was so  
__Good that I'd never hear you say no  
__And for all that it's worth, I can't think about ever letting go  
__But I'm lost for the words that I  
__Need to get over the way I feel  
__I can't do it by myself  
__Girl I really need you here_

_Help me find a way to your heart  
__Help me find my way, I can't see  
__In the dark  
__Tell me if I drifted too far  
__Am I warm? Am I cold?  
__Tell me now, let me know  
__Baby where we are_

_I've asked myself a thousand times  
__Or more  
__Girl, if we don't communicate then  
__What is loving for?  
_'_Cos I thought what we had was  
__so good that I'd never hear you  
__say why  
__I can't do it by myself  
__Girl we've really got to try_

_Help me find a way to your heart  
__Help me find my way, I can't see  
__In the dark  
__Tell me if I've drifted too far  
__Am I warm? Am I cold?  
__Tell me now, let me know  
__Baby where we are_

Now at this point Kira was then resting her head on Trent's shoulder, her hazel eyes closed as she relished the moment, which was quite rare considering the fact that usually she, Trent, and the others were either going to class, at Dr. Oliver's lab, or busy foiling Mesogog's plan of the week. Or in her case, all of that and also practicing the songs she had written and working on new ones. When she first heard the music begin to play off of Hayley's stereo, part of her hoped that at least one of her old favorites would play. Although she was a fan of Avril Lavigne and Maroon 5, Kira's music tastes weren't limited to just listening to those artists; she was also a fan of old-school rock-pop music as well, particularly what some would call "Rock & Soul". So once she heard "Help me find a way to your heart" she then saw some couples file off and begin to dance. She then looked at where Trent was supposedly serving the guests, but he had been talking to Hayley. Kira had then sighed defeatedly to herself and continued to watch the couples. Then when Trent had came up to her and said he was pretty much off his waiter duties, Kira hoped beyond hope that it was for the night. Then when he asked her shyly if she would like to dance, Kira felt her heart grow warm as she breathed out the answer she had wanted to say to him ever since the music kicked up.

_Too much time, too much confusion  
__Love won't let me be  
__Take a little time and show you care for me  
__Baby tell me what to say  
_'_Cause I can't live my life this way  
__Show me where your feelings start  
__Show me sweet baby the way  
__To your heart_

Trent, for his part felt like he was on cloud nine. In fact from the moment his career as a Power Ranger started he didn't know if he could ever remember being this relaxed, or even this happy. Ever since the dark energy encoding on his gem was destroyed, Trent had busted his chops to try to regain his friends' trust, namely Kira's. Despite the fact that the White Ranger clone's appearance complicated things a little, bit by bit he began to regain their trust and friendship again, although he regained Kira's trust quicker, and Dr. Oliver trusted him wholeheartedly anyway, which surprised Trent a great deal.

But right now, at this moment, nothing could compare to being here, at his favorite hangout spot, dancing with someone who, in his mind was the most beautiful girl he ever laid eyes on. As he let his eyes wander and look at the other couples, he then saw his friend Conner and Krista dancing together. Krista had her head resting comfortably on Conner's right shoulder, while Conner himself had his arms around Krista's waist, along with a look in his eyes that mirrored the same emotion Trent had: Cloud-nine emotion. As Conner looked and saw Trent and Kira swaying to the ballad he then looked at Trent, grinned, and raised his left hand, giving Trent a thumbs-up. Trent smiled himself, and returned the gesture earnestly.

_Help me find a way to your heart  
__Help me find my way, I can't see  
__In the dark  
__Tell me if I've drifted too far  
__Am I warm? Am I cold?  
__Tell me now, let me know  
__Baby where we are_

_Help me find a way to your heart  
__Help me find my way, I can't see  
__In the dark  
__Tell me if I've drifted too far  
__Am I warm? Am I cold?  
__Tell me now, let me know  
__Baby where we are…_

As the song started to end, Kira slowly raised her head from Trent's shoulder and looked at his eyes. Trent did the same as his brown eyes met with her hazel ones, letting their gazes try to communicate what they wanted to say but couldn't say in words. Suddenly Trent got an urge to want to kiss her, but part of him was nervous about doing it.

_Oh come on Trent; don't start getting nervous now! Just go with it!_

Still keeping his eyes locked with Kira's, Trent then slowly but surely began to inch his face closer to hers. Suddenly Kira found herself inching her face closer to his as well, then ever so closer…closer…closer…

WHEEO!

Whump!

Kira and Trent, along with Conner, Krista, Ethan, and pretty much everyone else then turned their heads and found themselves surrounded by Tyrannodrones, Elsa, the White Ranger clone, and Felectro.

"Oh, don't mind us." Elsa said. "We're just here to…crash."

The four Rangers looked at Elsa and co., and unanimously yet unknowingly thought one thing.

_Oh, shit._

A/N: Whew!!!!!! Okay, y' know somethin'? Forget about one gallon of Gatorade, I need twelve!! (drinks them all) Well, nine months and thirteen chapters later, this is what I've got so far. Now I have a confession to make; I was originally going to have Tommy and Kat meet later, but when I read Insane Ali's review for Ch. 12 I thought to myself, _Y' know somethin', Quit holding it back, just put it there and do it right._ So thanks to you, Insane Ali for helping me out without even knowing it. Now I wish I had put this chap here earlier, but when you're trying to type while the rug in ya kitchen, living room, dining room, and family room is being taken out so tiles can be put, and you, along with your mom, dad, and sister have to move everything out of there, it's pretty difficult. But, hakuna matata, I got it done. Also, "Help me find a way to your heart" was written and performed by Daryl Hall, arguably one of the best blue-eyed soul singers in the world, and is from his solo album SOUL ALONE (1993). And as before, if you guys see any errors, let me know. Well, having said that, enjoy the chap, true believers!


	15. Party Crashers

AN: Before I start I thought I'd let you guys know that I made a couple of edits to Chapter 13. Of course some of you might have already seen the edits, so if you have, ignore this. But for those of you who haven't, take another look at it.

--

Chapter 14-Party Crashers

"…So, after I graduated and got my Ph. D., I then kicked off my paleontology expeditions." Tommy said as he and Kat were back in Tommy's jeep, heading back to the cyber café.

"So, in essence, you pretty much made like Alan Grant from Jurassic Park and traveled the world looking for fossils?" Kat asked.

"Well, sort of." Tommy replied. "I didn't really travel the globe, for I pretty much stuck to doing my digging here in the U.S., but with all the digs I've gone to and the different places I've gone to, I may as well _have_ gone around the world, and in probably less than eighty days." He said sarcastically.

Kat laughed. "Probably." She said. "You know, there's still something I've been wondering though; what made you want to go from digging up dinosaur bones to teaching High School?" She asked.

Now that was a question Tommy didn't really know how to answer, mainly because he wasn't sure if he should tell Kat the whole story. "Well, I guess…after a time, namely after spending a couple of years going to digs and traveling around to places ranging from Southern California to upstate New York, I just decided that it was time to go for the 'peace & quiet' route. Besides, as a result of my digs I'd learned more than I ever thought I could learn when it came to science, which is actually pretty contrasting, especially considering the fact that I was never a science buff."

As soon as he said those words Tommy then found himself thinking back to a time many years ago, back when he was still in high school. He had been studying for a biology test alongside his good friend Billy and he hadn't exactly been having much luck being able to understand the material. Even with Billy's help, he was still racking his brains a little too much. Nonetheless, the two buddies went over it a couple of times more, and by about the fifth time Tommy was finally able to nail it.

"You know, I'm surprised you never thought of teaching at Angel Grove High." Kat pointed out.

"Oh, believe me, at first I thought of doing that," Tommy answered. "But when I got around to thinking about it, the idea of me teaching in the same school where I went to…I don't know, it just felt-to me anyway, it just felt kind of weird. Besides, I wanted to make a fresh start myself, just like you. So I looked around and heard they had an opening for a science teacher here at Reefside High, so I went for my job interview and, well…the rest is history."

"How's it been so far?" Kat asked.

"Well, in a word, it's been…quite interesting."

"You don't give your students extra homework, do you?"

"No, not at all." Tommy said as he brought the jeep to a red light. He then looked at Kat who gave him a look that said, "Are you sure?"

"Seriously, I don't." Tommy said. "Besides, I know only _too_ well what it's like having almost a full plate and just trying to make sense out of it. What I do for my classes is try to give my students challenges that _will_ require them to use their heads, but it's not like it'll be something they can't handle. That way _if_ they do bump into something that _is_ mind-boggling, they won't be intimidated too much and they'll hopefully know what to do."

--

At this exact moment, neither Conner, Ethan, Kira, Trent or Hayley knew what to do. But considering the fact that they were completely surrounded by Tyrannodrones, Elsa, and the White Ranger clone, along with everyone else in the building they didn't really have any options.

"Oh come now, what's wrong?" Elsa asked nonchalantly. "No more music? No chitchat even?"

Hayley then stepped forward. "Okay, look, whoever or whatever you are, what do you want?"

Elsa smirked and pointed her sword at Hayley. Or more specifically, her throat. "Oh, well, let me think about it for a second…oh yes, now I remember. What I want, or _who_ I want is the Power Rangers. But I don't mean in a meet & greet, can-I-have-your-autograph kind of way, I mean it more in a bruised, broken, bleeding, (or to put it bluntly,) dead kind of way. And until that happens, me and my good friends Felectro and our dark ranger clone here are going to be your hosts for the rest of the evening."

"And just in case if there's anyone here who feels otherwise and wants to do something about it…well, let me just say you'll be in for a…hell of a shock." Felectro said as he flexed his scythe-like claws outward, causing electricity to crackle around his hand, almost blinding anyone who was foolish enough to look directly at it.

Conner seethed a little bit at the hybrid once the latter stopped his light show, but then he quickly realized he wasn't in his Ranger guise, and plus Krista was with him, so he buried down his fury as best he could.

"Well, seeing as how that's already been said let's really get this party going _my_ way." Elsa said as she withdrew her sword from Hayley's throat, and then shoved her towards the main counter. Fortunately Trent and Kira were nearby and were able to catch her before her back hit the counter's table. Smirking evilly Elsa then snapped her fingers, and two Tyrannodrones then flanked off from the others and began to approach the dancing area where some of the people had been dancing before, along with everyone else there. Among those were Conner and Krista who were being slowly herded into a large corner of the café. Though Trent and Kira had been at a distance away, they too were pretty much shoved in the same direction as everyone else was, only that once everyone in the area was herded together, Trent and Kira were pretty much standing parallel to the right side of the counter, behind everyone else. Meanwhile another pair of Tyrannodrones went off and started to head towards the kids/adults who were seated at some of the tables (in addition to the ones standing) and began herding them together as well.

Luckily though Ethan had taken cover underneath the tables as soon as he saw the drones head towards the tables so as a result, the Tyrannodrones didn't see him. Once he was sure he was out of their line of sight Ethan then began to make his way over to the main counter, turning his head every few seconds and picking up the pace a little more if he saw the drones getting close.

Even though he was crawling under the tables, Ethan knew full well that he could have gotten up and clobbered the nearest Tyrannodrone with one hand tied behind his back, and if things were to get ugly, no problems there. All he would have to do is use his skin armor and ram the drones like Knuckles the Echidna punching his way through a brick wall; he wouldn't even have to morph.

Unfortunately though, because he and his friends weren't the only people in the building, that wasn't really an option.

_Man, its times like this I really wish I had Dr. O's invisibility, or even Trent's Predator-like camouflage._

Once Ethan saw that the drones started to turn around and head away from the tables he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly went behind the counter. However, as he went behind it his left foot accidentally hit a leg of one of the nearby tables. Needless to say, that got the attention of the two nearby Tyrannodrones and made them turn their heads.

_Shit!_ Ethan thought.

"What are you doing, you fools?" yelled out the White Ranger clone. "Finish grouping up the hostages and get back over here, now!"

Instantly the two drones forgot about the noise and went back to herding those who weren't already grouped together.

Once Ethan was behind the counter and well hidden from sight, he then looked to his left and saw Trent, Kira, and Hayley standing near to the other side of the counter along with some other teenagers and young adults. Deciding to take a chance he then crawled over to the trio as quietly as he could. As soon as he was close enough he then tried to get their attention.

"Psst!"

No answer.

"PSSST!"

Upon hearing it the second time (and much louder, too) Trent then turned his head a little bit, wondering where the noise was coming from, and judging from the look on Kira's and Hayley's faces, they heard it too. Then when he turned towards the pathway to the counter, he and Kira saw Ethan kneeling on the floor, gesturing them to get over to where he was pronto.

It was actually just at that moment that Felectro saw what he thought looked like an exchange between Trent and Kira. "Hey!" he hollered out at the two. "If you kiddies wanna talk amongst yourselves, go ahead, but don't start looking at each other like maybe you might need a hotel room."

Now it was Trent and Kira's turn to glare at the hybrid.

_I swear, I'm gonna be polishing my Drago sword with that guys' claws when I get through with him._

Once Felectro turned around, two Tyrannodrones then approached him.

"Keep an eye on these people over here. If one of them starts to get rowdy with you, shut them up and let me know so that way I can give them…shocking results."

As soon as the hybrid was out of sight, Ethan then began to gesture to them again.

Now Trent knew he could make his way over to the counter via his camouflage, but Kira didn't exactly have that ability. And even though he knew she could take care of herself, Trent wasn't about to leave her there. Suddenly, an idea came to him.

"Kira,"

"Yeah?"

"Look, I know this is going to sound crazy right now, but hug me."

Now if it had been any other time, in any other situation, Kira wouldn't even have hesitated, but when she heard Trent say that she narrowed her eyes in surprise. "What?"

"Just trust me, I got an idea. And if it works, I can probably get both of us to the counter, and maybe all four of us to the back room." He concluded as he looked at Hayley to indicate her as the fourth person.

"What about Conner and Krista?" Hayley asked.

"Also part of my idea." Trent said. "Don't worry, we're not gonna leave them here."

Kira then wrapped her arms around Trent's upper shoulders and held onto him tightly. Trent then wrapped his arms around Kira's waist and fought to keep himself from blushing slightly as he concentrated. Suddenly his dino gem began to glow and Trent saw his body begin to blend in to the background. Luckily they were standing behind everyone else so with the exception of Hayley nobody saw them, not even the Tyrannodrones or Elsa for that matter. At first when Kira saw Trent blend in she then looked at herself and almost laughed, for to anyone who was looking, it seemed like she was hugging nothing. Then when she looked down at where Trent's left wrist was she saw his dino gem glow a little more brighter, and suddenly she saw her own body disappearing and blending into the background as well. It wasn't like Dr. Oliver's invisibility, where he disappeared completely, but it was more like the type of camouflage that was seen in the Predator movies for when Kira looked at her arm she saw a phantom-like apparition and not much else.

Without even wasting a second Trent moved slowly but surely towards the counter where Ethan was waiting. Once he and Kira were at the counter he then knelt down, released Kira, and deactivated his camouflage.

Once Kira let go of Trent her body quickly reappeared. When she looked at Trent she saw him breathing a little bit heavily. "Trent, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just need to catch my breath. I'll be alright." He said assuringly.

"We gotta get into the back room." Ethan said.

"Hang on a second, Ethan. Not yet." Trent said as he began to concentrate again. Once again his dino gem started to glow and he camouflaged himself again. He then got up and walked over to where Hayley was and tapped her on her shoulder. Hayley almost jumped out of her skin.

"Shhh. Hayley, it's me, Trent." Trent whispered. He then quickly deactivated his camouflage and hugged Hayley around her waist so when he reactivated it, his camouflage would be able to cover both of them.

Once they were all behind the counter they then went to the back door that was quite literally behind them. They had to crawl, of course, so that way none of the Tyrannodrones or Elsa would see their heads. Fortunately the backdoor was a type of door that didn't have a doorknob or a bar to press, so all the foursome had to do was just push it slowly and hope that it didn't make a creaking sound as it opened. Luckily though, it didn't.

"Man, that was too close." Ethan remarked. "And Trent? That was some sweet use of your dino gem, man." He complemented.

"Thanks Ethan." Trent said.

"Well, we're safe now, but we still have to figure out how to get Conner, Krista, and all those other people to safety." Hayley said as she took a peak outside.

"And while we're at it, we gotta contact Dr. O and let him know what's going on." Ethan said. "And figure out how to kick Elsa and co. out of here too without morphing in front of everyone." He then raised his left arm where his dino gem bracelet/communicator/morpher was and grasped it with his other hand.

_Dr. O, please don't be in traffic._ Ethan thought pleadingly.

--

Bee-oo-eep!

"What was that?" Kat asked.

"Hmm. I don't know." Tommy replied. _Damn it, of all times…why now?_

Luckily for Tommy there were cars passing by so the sound was muffled somewhat, but that didn't stop Kat from hearing the chime.

"I think my watch is acting up again. Funny, I thought I had it fixed…" Since they were at a red light, Tommy was able to roll up his right plaid sleeve a little bit, revealing his watch. As he pretended to look at it and make adjustments, Tommy then "accidentally" grasped the sides of his left wrist where his bracelet was and started making some manipulations on his bracelet with his fingers, all the while "adjusting" his watch.

_I just hope Conner and co. don't chew me out_ too_ much._

--

"Anything?" Kira asked.

"Nope," Ethan answered. "The doc's not answering."

"Okay, that's weird. Why wouldn't he answer?" Hayley wondered.

"I don't know." Ethan said. "Either he's in traffic and he just can't hear us, or maybe…"

"Maybe what?" Kira asked.

"Maybe he's got…someone in his jeep. Probably a woman."

Kira then gave Ethan a disgusted look.

"Whoa, I don't mean _that_, I mean that he probably has a woman in his jeep and he's giving her a ride somewhere. I mean, that's gotta be the reason, otherwise he would've answered." He then paused for a moment before continuing. "I mean, come on, Dr. O doesn't strike me as somebody who would abandon his fellow students/protégés just to have some rendezvous with some woman."

"Well, it looks like until Tommy gets back, we're on our own then." Hayley said. "Let's just hope we can buy some time."

Trent nodded along with everyone else, then walked over to the door and looked through a small crack in the doorway and looked out as best he could. As he looked he then came to a spot in front of the counter and nodded invisibly to himself. "Guys, I think there may be a way." Trent said as he turned to the others.

"Is this part of your idea?" Ethan asked.

"Mm-hmm." Trent nodded. "Well, I'm making it up as I go, but yeah."

"So, what's your plan?" Kira asked.

A smile crept up on Trent's face. "Right now, at the moment, create a little…mayhem."

A puzzled look then crossed Kira and Hayley's faces. Ethan's face on the other hand turned towards the backdoor, and then as he turned back to the others he then got a little bit of an evil smirk as he began to guess as to what Trent had in mind. "Yo, go for it, man." He said.

"Will do." Trent said as he took one more look outside. Apparently the Tyrannodrones were standing near by the leftover food, but luckily for Trent they weren't near the deserts that he and Hayley had set up. Trent then concentrated, and activated his camouflage. Once he was "invisible" he then slowly opened the door, crept out, and began to make his way around the counter, to where the deserts were.

"Well, I have to say, this has been almost too easy." Elsa said as she looked at the two hostage groups. "But all the same it'll only make fighting the Rangers (once they show up) even more entertaining."

"One can only hope." Felectro said as he took a plastic cup with Hawaiian Punch and took a sip. "Hmm. Needs a little more…flavor." He then stuck out his arm, causing his claws to glow, "grab", and bring a Mountain Dew bottle, a MUG root beer bottle, and a Sprite bottle to him. Still using his magnetism Felectro then unscrewed the bottle caps, and poured all three sodas into his cup in one shot. He then placed the bottles (minus the caps) on a table and then pointed one hideous claw at his drink and shot a small stream of electricity at it. Satisfied, the hybrid then chugged the soda down. Once he was done he then threw the empty cup backwards, where the computer tables were, belching loudly as he did so. "Now _that's_ what I call a drink." He gloated.

"So it would seem." Elsa said. Then as she looked around she then saw the uncovered bottles on top of the tables. In spite of herself, Elsa was beginning to find herself kind of thirsty. Luckily though Felectro hadn't emptied all three soda bottles.

"Drone," Elsa said to the nearest Tyrannodrone. "Yes, you. Come here."

As soon as the drone came close, Elsa gave it an icy stare as she continued to speak. "Apparently it seems that despite the fact that this hostage-taking was actually more boring than easy, I seem to have acquired a small thirst. Do you think you can actually make yourself useful and get me a drink?" she asked rather coolly.

From his position by the deserts Trent then quickly picked up a plate that had a half Apple pie slice and looked at Elsa once. Out of the corner of his eye he also saw a Tyrannodrone heading in his direction. The drone couldn't see him, of course, but it was actually heading towards the half-empty Hawaiian Punch bottles, which was right next to where Trent was.

_Well, here goes nothing._ Trent thought. _No time for style or finesse._

He then raised his right arm, aimed the plate, and threw it.

It looked like something out of one of those teen comedy shows, for the pie flew fast in the air, and hit Elsa point blank in the face.

Needless to say, everyone started to crack up and laugh like crazy.

_Jackpot._ Trent thought. Not wanting to waste a second he then took a nearby aluminum pot that had traces of pumpkin pie in it and quickly placed it right on the nearby Tyrannodrone's hands.

"Okay, now I would really like to know as to who was the asshole who threw that." Elsa fumed as she wiped some of the apple pie off her face. Once she wiped the pie off her eyes, the first thing she saw was the confused Tyrannodrone who was holding the pumpkin-pie pot.

"You know, I thought I made myself clear and direct (without being confusing) when I asked you to bring me a drink." Elsa said as she approached the drone menacingly. "But it looks like I may not have been clear. No worries, though. For hopefully _this_ should be a little bit of an eye-opener."

With that, she then unsheathed her sword, drew her arm back, and fired a high-energy blast at the drone. Once the cyborg stopped firing, the energy died down, and the only thing that remained was traces of ash where the Tyrannodrone once stood.

"Humph, can't get good help nowadays." Elsa mused as she looked at the pile of ash. "And what are you bio-tin-cans looking at?" she asked as she looked at the other Tyrannodrones, who quickly backed away.

Elsa hadn't even turned her head for even a second when all of a sudden a piece of marble ice-cream cake hit her, and point blank in the face again.

Then the White Ranger clone and some Tyrannodrones were hit with some leftover turkey pieces and stuffing. "What the-?"

Then a long glass with water was thrown at Felectro, or more specifically, his eyes.

"Ahhhh! Water!" He yelled as he tried to rub his eyes with his claws. Suddenly electricity started to crackle out of his eyes as he rubbed them harder.

Seeing his chance, Conner then ran straight for the nearest Tyrannodrone, knocking it down shoulder-to-shoulder. Now there were other drones (namely those who were supposedly watching the people from the tables) standing right by it so as a result the latter went down along with the former, then the other and the other in a sort of domino-effect. The last one at the end of the domino effect was the White Ranger clone.

Surprised, Conner looked at the disheveled villains. _Man, I never thought my soccer skills would come in handy in a jam like this._ He then turned towards Krista and some of the other people. "C' mon, lets get out of here!" He said.

Neither Krista nor the two groups of hostages needed to be told twice. They quickly snapped to and rushed out of the café, running over some Tyrannodrones as they hurried out. Once everyone was out they quickly made a mad dash for their cars, vans, and jeeps.

Conner then turned around in hopes of seeing Ethan, Trent, Kira, and Hayley run out of the café as well, but he didn't see anything other than Tyrannodrones getting up and Elsa looking as if though she wanted to nuke the whole place, if not the whole city. He knew he had to head back in and find his friends/teammates so that they could _really_ crash Elsa's party, but he couldn't risk heading back in and having Krista follow him, or worse-case scenario, having her see him morph. He then looked around and saw a pay phone straight down the street.

"Krista." He said.

"What is it, Conner?" Krista asked as she ran a small distance to him.

"Have you seen Ethan, Trent, Kira, or Hayley?"

"No, I haven't." Krista replied. "But what with everyone running like hell to their cars, I couldn't really tell."

_Just as I thought._ Conner thought. "Look, I gotta go back in there. If my friends are in there (which I'm pretty sure they are,), I gotta get to them before those freaks do."

"By yourself? Are you crazy!"

"Krista, don't worry, I can take care of myself. Besides, if you go with me one of those freaks might get you and take you hostage. I'm not about to let that happen." He said as he then put his hands on Krista's shoulders. As he looked into her green eyes he could tell she still wanted to help.

"Look, there's a pay phone down the street. Call the cops or…something, I'll head in, get my friends, and head out. I'll be okay, I promise." He said as he put a reassuring hand on the girls' left shoulder.

Krista sighed and lowered her head a little bit, but then she raised it and looked eye-to-eye with Conner.

"Be careful."

Conner gave a small smile. "I will." And with that he then turned around and took off towards the cyber café, while Krista, after watching him for a couple of seconds then made a decision and headed off towards the pay phone.

Instead of heading right for the front door, Conner decided to head around the side, in hopes of finding a back door. As soon as he saw it he then opened it and saw that Ethan had grabbed it as well.

"Cut it kind of close, don't you think, bro?" Ethan asked.

"Ah-ha. Ah-ha. Very funny, dude." Conner said sarcastically.

"Is Krista all right?" Kira asked.

"Yeah, I sent her to a pay phone to call for help, 'cause something tells me we're gonna need it." Conner answered. "Oh yeah, by the way, weren't you guys huddled up with Krista and me?

"Well, I was at the tables soaking up the atmosphere, so I was at a distance away." Ethan replied. "And Kira and Trent were…_dancing_, much like you were doing."

"Oh yeah, where is Trent?"

"Right here, man." Trent replied as he deactivated his camouflage and reappeared right next to Kira.

Suddenly a light bulb went off in Conner's head. "Wait a minute dude, were _you_ the one doing the makeshift food fights?"

"Yep." Trent replied.

Conner then raised his bracelet sarcastically and looked at Hayley. "Hayley, are you sure our dino-gem powers can't be switched?"

"Nope."

"Didn't think so." Conner said. "Oh yeah, speaking of bracelets, have you guys tried to get a hold of Dr. O?"

"We've tried, and nothing but dead air." Ethan said.

Conner sighed. "All right. Well, I guess we can breathe down our teacher's neck about it later, right now we got ourselves a party to crash."

"You can say that again." Ethan said as he and the others followed Conner back into the cyberspace.

"Oh, and guys?" Hayley asked. "Try not to wreck everything like last time." She said referring to Ethan's Wizard Wood incident.

"We'll try not to." Ethan said as he followed his friends to the main part of the cyber café.

"I cannot believe this!" Elsa raged at her comrades as she flung a paper plate to the floor. "We had everything under control, and then all of a sudden…"

Suddenly the back door flew open before the cyborg could finish her sentence. Once she turned around she saw four teenagers facing her.

"So I take it the four of you had enough guts to show up and join my party, eh? Better late than ever."

"Actually, we're not here to join the party," Trent quipped.

"We're here to crash it." Conner finished as he raised his bracelet and activated his morpher. "Ready?"

"Ready!"

"Dino thunder, power up!"

"White Ranger, dino power!"

Once Conner, Ethan, Kira, and Trent morphed they then drew their Thunder-max sabers/Drago sword respectively.

Elsa then drew her sword, while the Tyrannodrones and the White Ranger clone flanked her even closer.

"Well, well, well," Felectro mused. "And here I thought this whole hostage thing was going to be boring." His eyes then began to crackle with electricity as he eyed Conner and the others like a predator to prey. "You kiddies may wanna brace yourselves, because if you thought things were rowdy before, guess what, it's about to get nuclear." He then flexed his claws as he said the last word, creating blinding energy balls in his hands as he did so.

Ethan just looked at Elsa, the White Ranger clone, the Tyrannodrones, and last, but not least, Felectro. Or more specifically, the deadly electric sparks he was holding in his claws.

_Man, we are gonna have a hard time cleaning this place up once this is all over._


	16. Out of touch

AN: Y' know, I don't know if I'm the one who started this, but it looks like Tommy/Kat-fever has struck and it's spreading fairly well, for I've been lookin' around the archive and I've ran into some _very_ cool fics, namely three. "Unexpected Attraction" by zeopurple, "Forever Pink & White" by lil sweetie, and my personal favorite, "Love of my life" by pinkstranger. Now some of you may have already read them, but for those of you who haven't, read 'em! They're _really_ good, especially "Love of my life". Now let me tell you, as I was reading that fic, I really _wished_ I could've been in Tommy's shoes.

--

Chapter 15-Out of touch

--

"I don't suppose we could ask you to take this party outside, could we?" Conner asked as he tightened his grip on his Thunder-max saber.

Elsa just sneered. "And why would I do something like that, Red Ranger?" she asked. "Especially when all the invites are already here?" And with that she raised her sword and pointed it at the four Rangers. "Attack." she said in a calm yet commanding tone. Instantly the White Ranger clone, Felectro, and the Tyrannodrones took their battle stances and charged at the foursome. As they fought, Conner, Ethan, Kira, and Trent tried their best not to wreck everything as they fended off Elsa and company, but if a Tyrannodrone, or one of Mesogog's generals tried to hurl a chair or a cooking pot at them, they had to dodge. In about less than two minutes there was pretty much a mess all over the place: leftover food on the floor and tables, ripped paper plates, spilled soda on the floor and other things as well.

_Man, Hayley's insurance company is gonna be breathing down her neck for this._ Ethan thought as he slashed at a nearby drone, leaving a nasty gash across its torso. He then kicked the drone square in the gut, knocking it onto a nearby table that had leftover food. The resulting crash caused the food to fly off the table and land right on the drones' face.

_Now that's what I call just deserts._ Ethan thought as he then quickly drew back his forearm, hitting another nearby Tyrannodrone with the back of his fist. Needless to say, the drone dropped to the ground like a Jenga tower.

Conner had just taken out another Tyrannodrone when he saw himself face-to-face with Felectro. Eyes narrowing in determination he then struck at the hybrid with his Thunder-Max saber but Felectro blocked the blow with his right forearm. Conner then struck a second time but Felectro blocked it again, this time with his left forearm.

But the hybrid wasn't through by a long shot, for once he blocked the second blow Felectro then grabbed Conner by the neck with his right arm, all the while using his left arm to keep a vice grip on Conner's right arm so he couldn't move his arm, much less use his saber.

"If I remember correctly, I believe you had said something about taking the party outside." Felectro sneered. "And interestingly enough, I agree with you. After all, what's a party if you can't make it bigger than it is? And in fact, seeing as how _you_ were the one who made the suggestion, and since I'm in a semi-generous mood, I'll let you start things off with a bang!"

No sooner did he finish his sentence that he then drew back both his arms to his right and threw Conner right through a window helmet-first, using his magnetism to prolong the throw. As a result Conner smashed right through the window and hit the ground with a thud at about 15 yards.

Conner only had time to raise his head somewhat when he saw Felectro leap through the large hole in the window and come at him in a very panther-like way. Acting quickly Conner then propped himself up on his arms somewhat and tried to get up but couldn't. Then when Felectro growled his panther growl and leaped at Conner with his sharp teeth bared and claws outstretched, Conner then spun 180 degrees on the ground, raising his leg and executing a high foot sweep as he did so. The blow connected with Felectro's left jaw, knocking him off balance and sending him spiraling to the ground. Conner then took advantage of this and used the momentum to get back up on his feet.

However, Felectro wasn't down at all, for as he was spiraling to the ground he then drew his legs back like Conner had and used the momentum to get back up on his feet as well.

Conner then adjusted his Thunder-max saber back to its blaster mode and put it back in it's holster by his belt. Once he saw Felectro get up about as quickly as he was kicked down he then took his battle stance and braced himself for anything the hybrid might dish out. At the corner of his visor Conner saw a jeep in the distance that was heading in their direction. Now for some reason, Conner found himself not wanting or even needing to think twice or do a double take, for once he saw the jeep he just knew right then as to whose jeep it was and who was driving it.

_Dr O! You've got some splainin' to do!_ Conner thought to himself just as Felectro flung two energy boomerangs at him. Conner quickly jumped and somersaulted in the air, dodging the boomerangs as they flew around and returned back to Felectro.

"That was strike one and two, pal." Conner said as he activated his Tyranno staff. "Wanna try a third time?"

Suddenly the front door to the cyber café opened and Elsa, the White Ranger clone, and several Tyrannodrones were sent flying out the door with Ethan's Tricera shield shooting horn "stingers" at them.

"Come on, you posers! Where you goin'?" Ethan asked as he fired another round of stingers with Trent and Kira right behind him.

Elsa, already feeling irritated beyond words, drew her sword and deflected the stingers with it. "Actually, I was just about to ask you the same question." And as she said it she then aimed her sword and fired an energy beam at Ethan, Trent, and Kira, knocking the three of them to the ground.

"Guys!" Conner yelled as he forgot about Felectro and rushed over to where his teammates were. "Are you all right?"

Everyone either nodded or said, "Yeah," as they tried to get to their feet.

"Yo, Red Ranger," Felectro said as he joined Elsa, the White clone, and the Tyrannodrones as they gathered their wits and locked gazes with the Rangers. "Just in case you still had that question in your head, the answer is yes."

--

"Uh-Tommy?"

"Kat, what is it?"

"What's that up ahead?" Kat asked as she pointed up ahead to where the Rangers were facing off against Elsa and her flunkies.

Tommy then looked in the direction she was pointing. "I have no idea." he replied as he tried to sound as surprised as she was. He then brought the jeep to a stop at a safe distance and saw his students facing off against Felectro, Elsa, the Ranger clone, and the Tyrannodrones.

"Oh, man…" he said to himself as he got off his jeep and looked closer. He then looked at his left wrist and then at Kat, not really wondering what he should do.

"Miss Hillard?"

Kat then turned her head as she looked for the source of the voice. "Krista?" she asked as she stepped out of her side of the jeep and saw the auburn-haired girl head towards them.

"What are you doing here?" Kat asked.

"Well, I thought I'd stop by for the party and see what was up, but not too long after the party started, those freaks popped up again." she answered as she gestured to the villains fighting the Rangers. "Oh yeah, what are you and Dr. Oliver doing here?" Krista asked as she noticed both Tommy and Kat and realized they had come to the cyber café together.

"Well, out of all the food we had for the party, the only thing we were missing was fruitcake, so we had to leave for a bit and get one." Tommy answered. "Now I know anyone who wanted to come to this party was more than welcome to show up, but I don't remember seeing mutant dinosaurs on Hayley's list of invites, though." He continued. "Krista, is everyone still inside or were they able to get out?" Tommy asked.

"As soon as Conner and I were out, we pretty much saw everyone else head into their cars and such." Krista said. "So from what I could tell, the place looked pretty empty."

"Where's Conner?" Tommy asked, even though he already knew where he was.

"After we were out, Conner asked me if I had seen Trent, Kira, or Ethan. I told him no, I hadn't. Conner then figured they were still inside so he sent me to call for help while he went in and got them. I didn't want to let him go in there alone but he insisted. So I went to a pay phone to call for help, and the dispatch said they'll be on their way here." Krista then looked in the direction of the cyber café. "Although I would've thought that Conner and the others would've been out here by now."

CLANG!

Tommy, Kat, and Krista then turned and saw a Tyrannodrone get on top of the hood of Tommy's jeep, and leap at them.

"Get back!"

Not hesitating, Tommy quickly leaped into the air and did a double high kick, stopping the Tyrannodrone and knocking it down in midair.

Suddenly more started to appear and begin to surround the threesome.

"Kat, get Krista out of here." Tommy said.

"But what about you?"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine, just go and get her to safety." Tommy insisted as he tornado-kicked one Tyrannodrone into one group of drones, knocking them down.

Kat hesitated. She didn't want to leave Tommy alone to fend for himself, but at the same time she knew Krista did not have any moves to defend herself against any of the drones.

"Krista, come on."

"But what about-?"

"I'll try to go in and get Conner, but you get to safety." Tommy said to Krista as he charged into the fray of drones.

_Be careful, Tommy._ Kat thought as she and Krista broke into a run and took off down the road, not knowing that a few Tyrannodrones had broken off from the group that were fighting Tommy and began following them.

As Tommy fought off some of the Tyrannodrones he then saw that things were getting a little bit more intense than usual and the drones weren't going to stop for anything. Making a quick decision he then roundhouse kicked one drone onto a whole bunch, knocking them all down. Once they were incapacitated Tommy then dove behind the left side of the jeep. He then quickly looked around and saw no prying eyes at all. Acting fast he then activated his morpher, which appeared on his left wrist.

_These guys picked the wrong party to crash._ he thought as he tightened his grip on his morpher key. "Dino-Thunder, power up!"

Once he was morphed completely, Tommy then leaped into the fray of Tyrannodrones that were mobbing Conner and the others.

"Dr. O, I know this isn't the time to ask, but what kept you?" Conner asked as he floored one drone with his Tyranno staff.

"It's kind of a long story Conner, but I promise I'll explain later." Tommy replied.

In no time at all the Tyrannodrones were disposed of pretty quickly, leaving the five Rangers only Elsa, the White Ranger clone, and Felectro to deal with.

"You know Black Ranger, I really have to say that these last-minute upsets you keep handing me are starting to become…somewhat more than irritating." Elsa snarled as she eyed Tommy with a menacing glare.

"Yeah, I know, I seem to have a knack for that." Tommy quipped.

--

Katherine and Krista hadn't gotten too far when the Tyrannodrones finally caught up to them.

"Okay, these things really _need_ a hobby." Krista said disgustedly.

Kat kept Krista by her as best she could as she sized up the drones in hopes of seeing a gap for them to escape. Unfortunately, there wasn't.

One drone then came at Kat and swiped its claw at her. Luckily though Kat was able to quickly intercept the blow and stop it almost effortlessly. Then in one quick move, she was able to send the drone rolling forward, then flat on its back before it knew what happened.

"Miss Hillard!"

Kat then turned around and saw two Tyrannodrones grab Krista from behind and start to drag her away.

"Let me go, you lizard freaks!" Krista said as she struggled to get free, but the drones kept their vice-grip on her. Krista then slammed her foot down on one of the Tyrannodrones' feet, making the drone lose its grip on her, but the other one tightened it's hold, almost putting Krista in a sort of head-lock.

"Let her go!" Kat yelled as she ran towards Krista's captors. Then as she got close she then leaped into the air, executing a flip as she did so. Once she landed on the ground she then did a backward roundhouse-kick that made the drone lose its grip on Krista and fly on it's side until it hit the ground.

"Krista, go!" Kat yelled.

Now it was Krista who hesitated this time. But she knew she couldn't do much to help, so as soon as she saw her chance she then broke into a run. A few Tyrannodrones tried to go after her, but Kat quickly cut them off by doing her flip-jump and landing in front of them. The drones then tried to move around her to get to Krista, but Kat pretty much intercepted them and started taking them down one jump-kick/roundhouse kick at a time. Once they realized the human woman wasn't about to let them past her, the drones then changed tactics and converged on her.

--

Trent parried with his Drago sword as the White Ranger clone slashed at him viscously. The two Drago swords connected in a shower of sparks, but luckily, Trent's sword held up against the blow. Seeing his chance Trent knocked the clone's sword arm away from his torso then kicked the clone square in the gut, knocking him back a few feet. Acting fast Trent then did his dash-attack before the clone could get his bearings and have a chance to counter.

Meanwhile Conner, Ethan, and Kira were facing off against Felectro and neither of them were doing well. Conner leaped at him hoping to slam the head of his Tyranno staff at the hybrid but Felectro grabbed the staff effortlessly with his right claw, then he twisted it in a way that made the Red Ranger spin 180 degrees, causing him to land flat on his back. Once Conner was down Felectro then kicked him like a forward making a penalty shot at a goal.

"Conner!"

Tommy had just blocked one of Elsa's blows when he saw Conner get kicked away at what looked like a distance of 20 yards.

"Worry about your own life, Black Ranger." Elsa said steely as she struck her sword up, knocking Tommy's arm away from his chest and almost knocking him off balance. Then the cyborg made two quick slashes across Tommy's chest, then followed it up with a tornado-kick that sent the Black Ranger flying right to where Ethan, Kira, and Trent were. Once the three Rangers had seen Conner get kicked away they hurried over to help. They had just finished helping Conner to his feet when they saw their teacher get kicked by Elsa and was sent flying in their direction.

"Okay, this bitch and her flunkies are _really_ starting to piss me off." Conner said as he helped his teacher to his feet.

"Z-rex time?" Trent suggested.

"Oh, yeah." Conner agreed.

So all five Rangers took their respective weapons and combined them into one.

"Z-rex blaster super mode!"

"Ready!"

"Aim!"

Conner was just about to push the trigger when an invisiportal opened and a Tyrannodrone appeared out of it, dropping Krista right by Felectro and disappearing into the portal just as quickly. Felectro then raised his left arm, activating his magnetism and drawing Krista close to him.

"Ah, ah, ahhh. Somehow I wouldn't push that trigger if I were you, Red Ranger." Felectro said as he kept his "grip" on Krista. "Well, on second thought, go right ahead. Besides, I've always wanted to see what a human looks like with her arms and insides splattered all over the place." He then took a moment to picture it in his mind. "Mmm. Now _that_ would be a work of art."

Conner was twitching like a madman. In all honesty he wanted nothing more than to just fire the Z-Rex blaster and barbecue Felectro, fur, feathers and all. But as long as he had Krista in front of him, he couldn't-wouldn't fire.

Felectro sneered and snickered. "All too easy." He said as he raised his right arm and brought it down on the ground in front of him. Instead of fissures forming like before, electricity began to travel from his claws to the ground. Once the electric streams reached the ground, they then moved at a breakneck speed towards the Rangers, electrocuting them with immense force.

"No!" Krista yelled.

Elsa then drew her sword and held it up horizontally by Krista's neck. "Oh, don't worry, sweetheart. Once we're done with them, we'll be more than happy to give you the same treatment."

"Oh, no you don't!"

Elsa turned around just in time to see a foot connect with her face. It caught her off guard and sent her staggering back a little bit towards Felectro. Her bumping into the hybrid caused the latter to lose some of his concentration, thus braking his magnetic grip on Krista.

Once she saw she was free Krista then turned her head to her right and saw Katherine standing nearby in a defense position. Relieved she then took a few steps forward, only to have the White Ranger clone dash right up to her with his Drago sword pointed at her. "Going somewhere?" he asked.

Confused, Krista looked over to where the Rangers were and saw the White Ranger trying to get up very slowly alongside his teammates.

"Just in case you were wondering, yes, I was created from that idiot's gem. But _I'm_ the real deal as far as I'm concerned." The clone said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Elsa got up as she wiped some blood that was dribbling down her lip somewhat. Once she saw that the White clone had Krista she then looked in front of her and saw Kat facing her with a determined look on her face.

"_You_." Elsa said, her voice practically dripping with venom as she tightened her grip on her sword.

Kat readied herself just as Elsa got ready to strike. However, Felectro, who had recovered quickly, grabbed her sword arm. "Let's not be hasty, sweetheart." Felectro said. "The game just got a little more interesting." And with that he then shot electric bolts at both Kat and Krista. But instead of electrocuting them, he then used his electricity to magnetize both of them together and bring them to him.

Now by this point the Rangers had already gotten to their feet and were trying to take battle stances again. Because the electrocution had quite a mean kick, their Z-rex blaster had deactivated and disassembled back into their respective weapons.

"Yo! Rangers!" Felectro crowed out.

Now as Tommy faced Felectro he didn't need to look twice to know that Kat was being held along with Krista; he just knew.

"Apparently it seems that thanks to the selfless yet futile attempts by this young woman, we now have two hostages for the price of one." Felectro said as he gestured to Kat.

"Let them go! They don't have anything to do with this!" Kira protested.

"Au contraire, sweetheart." Felectro said. "They have everything to do with this by simply _being_ here." He then snarled wickedly. "Now drop your weapons, that is, unless of course you _really_ wanna see these vixens sizzle."

Tommy muttered a curse as he adjusted the handle on his Brachio staff. Unfortunately, Felectro heard it.

"Ah-ah! Don't even think about it, Black Ranger." Felectro said.

Under the helmet, Tommy seethed a little bit as he saw Kat struggle against Felectro's magnetized grip. He then looked at his Brachio staff and merely adjusted it back.

"Okay, you know what? I must be talking Japanese 'cause it doesn't seem like I'm being clear." Felectro said as his claw began to glow a little more brighter. "Drop 'em." He said again. This time a little more fiercely.

Realizing it was hopeless Tommy gestured to the others to drop their weapons. Conner went first, throwing his Tyranno staff in front of him. Even though he was supposedly the leader, Dr. Oliver was their mentor, and he wasn't about to go against him.

Ethan chucked his Tricera shield to where Conner's staff was, followed by Trent and then Kira.

Lastly Tommy then threw his Brachio staff in the air, but as he threw it, he threw it in a way that was making it spin as it flew in the air. Then as it landed, it landed on it's top, causing a surge of wind to kick up and start to make everything blow out of control.

Felectro struggled as he tried to maintain his magnetic grip on the two girls but as before, the chilling wind that the staff was emitting was breaking his concentration, so it didn't even take two seconds for his magnetism to break and free Kat and Krista, in addition to knocking him, along with his allies flat on their backs.

For a brief moment Kat and Krista were feeling the blast of wind as well as Elsa and the others, but then no sooner were they freed from Felectro's "grasp" did all of a sudden it stopped. Kat then looked in the direction where the staff supposedly was and saw the Black Ranger holding it in his hands.

"Girls, get to safety, quickly!" he said.

Once again there was something in the Black Ranger's voice (while not recognizable and yet distinct,) that seemed to resonate in Kat again. She quickly brushed the feeling aside, nodded, and ran with Krista over to the parking lot. As she turned her head in the direction of the parking lot Kat saw cop cars heading in their direction.

As soon as he saw that Kat was safe Tommy then wasted no time as he leaped at Felectro and used his staff to create an energy orb, which he then fired point-blank at the hybrid. Conner, Ethan, Kira and Trent picked up their respective weapons and followed their teacher's attack up with their own, and not just against Felectro, but Elsa and the White Ranger clone as well.

"Tyranno staff, energy orb!"

"Tricera shield, horn drill!"

"Ptera grips, crescent strike!"

"Drago sword, wing blade!"

All five attacks worked, making all three villains reel even more as explosions rocked all around them. Once the smoke cleared Elsa, Felectro, and the clone looked and saw the Rangers eyeing them down.

"Have you freaks had enough or do you want some more?" Trent asked as he tried to stay on his feet, even though he, like the others, was exhausted.

Elsa moved her mouth as if to respond, but when she looked behind the Rangers she saw police cars already showing up on the scene. She wanted to stay and duke it out with the Power Rangers, regardless if there were cops or not, but she was exhausted herself, and judging by the way Felectro and the White Ranger clone looked, they looked like they were about ready to fall apart, if not collapse. Elsa then gritted her teeth as she slowly rose to her feet and faced the Rangers defiantly.

"The only thing the five of you have done is just prolong your demise, nothing else." Elsa said. "So you can just gloat and enjoy your little moment of reprieve for all I care, but don't expect to be able to catch your breaths the next time around, for it won't just be overtime, it'll be _kill_time." And with that an invisiportal appeared above her and she, along with Felectro and the White Ranger clone, jumped into it and disappeared.

_We'll see whose killtime it'll be._ Conner thought.

Tommy then turned around and saw some police cars already arriving on the scene.

Bee-oo-eep!

"Guys, it's me." Hayley said.

"Hayley, where are you?" Tommy asked.

"I'm in the back room of the cyber café monitoring the whole thing, and unless I'm seeing things, I see some cop cars not too far from where you are."

"Yeah, I know, I see 'em."

"Cop cars? Where?" Ethan asked.

"Over there." Trent said as he sheathed his Drago sword.

"Uh, I don't know about you guys, but I think I wanna make myself scarce." Ethan said.

"Ethan, we can't just disappear and leave Hayley as the only witness." Kira pointed out.

"Not to mention Krista." Conner said firmly.

"If you guys can get into the back room and demorph, you should be okay." Hayley said.

"All right." Tommy said.

"Okay, I think I got an idea." Conner said. "Trent, how far can your camouflage extend?"

"Not far." Trent replied. "Just one other person besides me."

_Damn._ Conner thought. "Okay, then in that case you and Kira pair off, and Ethan, Dr. O and I will zoom along behind you."

"Uh, Conner? Somehow I don't think you'll have to worry about carrying three people." Tommy said as he suddenly disappeared in front of them.

"Oh yeah, that's right." Conner said as he remembered his teacher's invisibility.

"Well, come on. Let's make like cats and slink our way out of here."

No sooner did Ethan say "cats" did Tommy's body then freeze for a moment as he remembered Kat.

"Guys," Tommy said.

"Yeah, doc?" Ethan asked.

"You guys go on ahead, there's something I need to take care of."

"Like…?"

"Just…something."

"Dr. O…" Conner began.

"Look, I promise I'll explain later when I get back, all right?"

Conner sighed impatiently. "Okay, fine. But you better tell us the whole nine yards the minute you get back, all right, doc?"

"Okay." Tommy said nonchalantly.

"All right, let's go." Conner said to his friends.

Kira then got close to Trent and slid her arm around his waist as he did the same likewise. Once her face was pretty much touching his right shoulder Trent then activated his camouflage so it was able to cover both him and Kira, even though they were still in morph. Once they were "invisible" they then made their way to the back area of the cyber café.

Conner, on the other hand walked up to Ethan and put his arm around his shoulder and Ethan did the same so to anyone, the duo basically looked like they were both limping and had to hang on to each other for support.

"Fasten your seat belt, dude." Conner said to his friend as he activated his dino-gem power and the two zoomed along to the back area of the cyber café as well.

Even though he was invisible, Tommy waited until his students were out of sight. Although he wondered if Trent and Kira, out of curiosity decided to turn their heads to see what their teacher was up to, and seeing as how Trent had a camouflage ability, Tommy wouldn't be able to see them.

_Nah, what am I talking about? That's more like something Conner would do._

Still invisible, Tommy demorphed and took behind a plastic snowman that fortunately was the same height as he was, so he didn't have to worry about crouching. He then deactivated his invisibility and made his way over to where Kat, Krista, and the few cop cars were.

--

"So basically what your telling me is that it was another one of those mutant attacks again?"

"Pretty much." Katherine and Krista both said to the cop.

"And you're the one who placed the call?"

"No, that was me." Krista said. "Once me and the other hostages had a chance to get out of the cyber café everyone pretty much got in their cars and vans and got out as fast as they could. Then the Power Rangers showed up and then things got a little crazy. Luckily though no one got hurt."

"And were you inside the café at the time this happened?" the cop asked Katherine.

"No, I had just stopped by here for the first time when all this was happening." Kat replied.

"Well, I don't you about you guys, but I think it's safe to say that it's over." Tommy said as he jogged up to them.

"Tommy," Kat said with a sigh of relief. "Are you all right?" she asked as she stepped close to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you okay?"

"A little bruised up, but yeah, I'm all right." Kat replied.

_Thank God._ Tommy thought.

"Excuse me, but you said that the mutant monsters retreated, am I right?" asked the cop.

"Pretty much." Tommy answered.

"Well, that's good to hear." said another cop. "Where are the Power Rangers, anyway? I thought they were just here."

"After those freaks left, they (the Rangers) went to go see if there were any more people inside the café, and that's when they ran into me. Luckily though my students along with Hayley were the only ones inside and they were okay, so once they saw everything was all right, they left."

"Wait a second," Krista said as realization crossed her face. "Conner, is he…?"

"Don't worry, he's okay. He's in the back room." Tommy said. "In fact, he should be out by now."

Tommy didn't even finish his sentence when Krista saw five figures in the distance. However, because the sun was already setting and since the fivesome were in the shade they looked a little bit like shadows. But as they passed an area that still had the sunlight illuminating it Krista recognized Conner's red sleeveless T-shirt.

"Conner!" Krista yelled as she ran over to where Conner and the others were.

"Krista?" Conner asked as he saw her running towards him. As soon she was within arm's length she hugged him in an almost tight, desperate embrace.

"Krista, it's all right, I'm okay." Conner said assuringly as he hugged Krista back.

Krista then slowly raised her head to look at Conner. "Conner, could you do me a favor and try not to scare me like that?" she asked in a half-exasperated, half-relieved tone.

Conner almost smiled his cocky smile, but then when he looked at Krista's jade green eyes a gentle, soft smile began to replace it. "I'll try not to next time." He said.

"Well, you see, that's the thing about Conner." Ethan joked. "He always has a way of making people worry about him for a while, and then all of a sudden ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom, he comes out at the last minute completely unscathed, and with a trophy in one hand."

"Dude, shut up." Conner said half-sarcastically, which made everyone almost explode into spasms of laughter.

--

"Well, it looks like _they_ seem to be okay." Kat said as she looked in the direction of the six people who were laughing hysterically.

"Oh, yeah." Tommy said as he looked in the same direction.

"Well, it looks like I've got plenty of information here, but I'm going to have to ask the teenagers to see if anything else had happened."

"Okay." Tommy said.

"All right. Well, have a good night, you two." Said the cop as he made his way over to where Conner, Krista, Hayley, Ethan, Kira, and Trent were.

"Well, looks like this is one Thanksgiving I don't think I'll have to worry about remembering."

"Still have your faulty memory around, don't you?" Kat asked.

Tommy just sighed. "No matter how much I want to get rid of it." he replied, which caused the both of them to laugh somewhat. Once the laughter died down between the two of them though, Tommy found himself once again staring right into Kat's deep blue eyes. A deep blue he wanted nothing more than to just drown himself in…

_Tommy, come on. Get back to reality, will ya?_

"Oh, um…oh yeah, uh…do you have a way to get back to your suite?"

"Sadly, no. I pretty much walked all the way here from Cosmos." Kat answered. "Why?"

"Well, um…" _Good grief, why the hell am I acting nervous?_ "…I was just wondering…would you like me to give you a ride back?"

Kat smiled brightly. "Of course." She said.

"Okay, great. Umm…come on." Tommy said as he led Kat to his jeep. Once they got there Tommy went ahead and opened the right door for Kat to get in. "Ladies first." He said as nonchalantly as he possibly could.

"Thanks." Kat said as she stepped in.

As soon as Katherine was in the jeep Tommy then walked over to his side of the jeep, got in the drivers' seat, and turned on the ignition.

"Dr. O!"

Tommy then looked to his left to see Conner and the others at a distance trying to walk up to where he was.

"Guys, I'll be right back. I just have to drop a friend off."

"Where? In San Fransisco?" Conner asked.

"Look, like I said before I'll tell you guys everything when I get back, okay? In the mean time, stay and help Hayley clean up until I do. I'll come back as soon as drop her off."

Conner sighed and gritted his teeth in frustration. "Okay, all right, fine. But remember Dr. O, you OWE us."

"Okay, okay." Tommy said as he fought to keep himself from laughing. Once he switched from park to drive he then turned around 180 degrees, and then hooked up onto the main road.

"Okay, I don't get it, what's up with Dr. O? He's not usually like this." Trent said.

"I know." Kira said.

"I knew it." Ethan said.

"Knew what?" Conner asked as he turned to face his friend.

"He's got a lady in his car." Ethan said.

Everyone then turned around and looked at Ethan.

"What? Oh come on, don't tell me neither one of you guys didn't hear him say 'her'." Ethan then looked at Conner. "Not even you, Conner?"

Conner then thought back to what his teacher said and then after a few seconds a smile then began to spread across his face.

"Okay, NOW Dr. O is really gonna owe us an explanation."

"Somehow I don't think they're an item." Krista said.

"Who?" Conner asked.

"Dr. Oliver and Miss Hillard."

"Her name's Miss Hillard?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah." Krista said. "I remember her saying her first name was…Kathy, no, that wasn't it…Katie…" she then sighed in exasperation. "Okay, I know her first name starts with a 'K', I know that much."

"Hmm. Interesting." Conner mused. "Well, going back to what you said before, what makes you think that?"

"Well, I mean, she just started teaching at Cosmos today, and according to her, she arrived here in Reefside quite recently."

"Well, either way, Dr. O owes us some details, and the minute he gets back (and he better get back soon) we're hog-tying him to a chair until he does."

--

"Tommy, were those teenagers-namely the boy who was yelling-were they your students?" Kat asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Tommy said in mock embarrassment.

"Seems to me like they sound like an interesting bunch."

_You don't know the half of it, Kat._ "Oh, yeah." He agreed. "I mean, seriously, they're really great, all four of them and out of all the students I've had this year, I'd say that Conner, Ethan, Kira, and Trent (those are their names) are perhaps the most special, and there's really no doubt in my mind that they'll go far in their respective careers, just so long as they have the desire to do it."

Kat couldn't help but stare at Tommy as they drove down the highway. Even after all these years it never ceased to amaze her how Tommy's concern for his students and wanting them to reach their potential could still touch her somehow. And now, seeing him again, this time as a much wiser, more mature Tommy, it was stirring up feelings inside her that had been growing ever since she laid eyes on him again.

_But…does he feel the same?_

As Kat was continuing to stare at Tommy she then heard the commercials on the radio end and then the radio station's DJ began to speak.

"…_Thank you guys for tuning in. Well, I hope all of you are enjoying the ride home on your traffic commune. I know that on some roads it's practically a little crazy, and on some it's just a short breeze, but whether you're in bumper-to-bumper traffic or just surfing the road, remember we got you covered when it comes to good music, and speaking of music I'm gonna take things down a little bit and unwind with one of my personal favorites. From his fourth solo album 'Can't stop dreaming', here's Daryl Hall with 'Hold on to me'."_

Now as the guitar intro began to play, Kat found herself drifting off into space as she continued to stare at Tommy. While part of her mind was telling her to stop staring, Kat couldn't-wouldn't pry her gaze from him. In fact, she was slowly starting to lose herself in him as the lyrics started to come out of the speakers.

_I wanna know what you dream, oh baby  
__Am I one with your fantasy  
__I wanna show you my deepest feelings  
__Ain't that how love's supposed to be_

_So give me love…hold on to me  
__Give me hope…hold on to me  
__Give me dreams…hold on…oh baby give it up  
__Give me heart…hold on to me  
__Oh, give me soul…hold on to me  
__Give me your smile…hold on…oh baby give it all_

_I had enough of bad luck, oh baby  
__All those nights that I can't replace  
__But none of the love in my past can claim me  
__Others go but you don't fade away_

_So give me love…hold on to me  
__Give me hope…hold on to me  
__Give me dreams…hold on…oh baby give it up  
__Give me heart…hold on to me  
__Oh, give me soul…hold on to me  
__Give me your smile…hold on…oh baby give it all_

Now Tommy sensed that Kat was staring at him so he turned around somewhat so he was facing her and smiled. "Kat, are you okay?" he asked.

Kat then snapped out of her trance for a moment to hear what Tommy said. "Yeah, I'm just a little tired." She said.

"I know the feeling." Tommy replied. "Just hang on, we should be there soon."

"Are you sure you know where it is?" Kat asked.

"There's only one Days Inn I know, and it's the only one in Reefside. If that's not it, then I don't know which one it is."

Kat chuckled as she leaned back a bit towards her chair so she could relax for a few moments. In no time at all the lyrics then began to float in her mind once again.

_I know in my heart it's real, so real  
__I know this is love I feel for you darling  
__If something ain't right just say so baby  
__Don't let go…don't stay away…stay with me_

_Give me love…hold on to me  
__Give me hope…hold on to me  
__Give me dreams…hold on…oh baby give it up  
__Give me heart…hold on to me  
__Oh, give me soul…hold on to me  
__Give me your smile…hold on…oh baby give it all…_

"Kat…Kat, wake up. We're here."

The song then began to fade and end just as Kat heard Tommy's voice. "Hmmm? We're here?"

"Yeah, we're at Days Inn."

Kat then blinked some of the tiredness out of her eyes as she looked to her right and saw the Days Inn marquee. "Man, what I wouldn't give for a shower and then some sleep."

Tommy chuckled. "Well, the night's still young, you could still get a makeshift Thanksgiving dinner over at Taco-bell or KFC or something." Tommy suggested as he got out and walked around to Kat's side. He then unlocked the door and opened it for Kat to get out, but Kat still had some tiredness in her that almost made her lose her balance and fall out of her seat. Acting on instinct Tommy quickly grabbed her before she could hurt herself while Kat instinctively wrapped her arms around Tommy's neck for support.

For moments that seemed to stretch into hours, the two pretty much stayed that way in each other's arms. Suddenly Tommy then came back to reality and started to help Kat to her feet.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yeah." Kat said as a light blush began to spread up her neck.

"Can you stand?"

"Tommy, I'm tired, not drunk." Kat said in mock annoyance.

"I know, I know." Tommy said as he gently released his hold on Kat as she stood up completely.

"Well…thanks for the ride, Tommy." Kat said.

"Anytime, Kat. Anytime." Tommy said.

"You know, I…really didn't think I'd see any familiar faces when I moved here to Reefside." Kat confessed. "I was almost afraid I'd feel too way out of place."

"I know how you feel." Tommy said. "I've only been living in Reefside for a couple of months now, and other than my old college friend/study partner Hayley, I haven't seen any familiar faces myself."

"Well, at least it's nice to know that at least there's one familiar face here."

"Yeah…" Tommy said as the two found themselves staring in each other's eyes again. Reluctantly Tommy snapped himself out of it.

"Well, I…think I better get back before my students decide to hunt me down."

"Oh, right." Kat said in a disappointed tone.

"Oh, yeah! Before I forget…" Tommy then walked back to his jeep and pulled out a small piece of notepad paper out of his jeans pocket. He then took out a pen from his plaid shirt's chest pocket and scribbled something down on it. Once he was done he then walked over to Kat and handed it to her. Kat then looked down at the piece of paper and saw 1992 Valencia Road along with his home number scribbled on it.

"If you need anything, or if you need someone to talk to, just call. Or if you just want to stop by my place, don't be a stranger." Tommy said, shrugging semi-nervously like it wasn't a BIG deal.

"Okay." Kat said softly.

"All right." Tommy said.

"Well, I guess I'll…see you tomorrow?"

Tommy smiled his gentle smile. "Definitely." He said.

"Ok, great. Well…good night."

"Good night, Kat."

Even though Katherine was taking a few steps towards the Days Inn entrance, she felt as if though her feet were on molasses as she stepped ever so slowly away from Tommy. Once she opened the double doors, she then turned around and saw him still standing there. She smiled at him and fought hard not to stare at Tommy's brown eyes. She then gave mouthed "Good night" as she then closed the door and headed off to her suite.

Once she disappeared from his line of sight Tommy stood there for a couple of seconds more, then he walked back to his side of the jeep and got in. As he turned on the ignition he then looked at the double doors where Kat had just been.

"Good night, Katherine." He said as he switched to drive and headed back to Hayley's cyberspace.

--

AN: Unless I was seeing things, it seems there's going to be a DT-SPD team-up next week on Toon Disney. Now I'm not sure if it'll be good but we'll just have to wait and see. (Although there BETTER NOT be any Conner/Kira, Jason/Kat, or Tommy/Kim in that episode.)


	17. A series of very fortunate events

AN: Well, it turns out the DT-SPD team-up episode wasn't as bad as I thought it was, although I feel it could have at the very least included Trent as well. C' mon, even he went to Reefside High along with the others (minus Dr. O, of course), but that's just me. Also, I added in some more pairings to my list on my profile (some of which are well-beloved PR pairings) so check those out when you get the chance. Oh yeah, Funky in Fishnet, you said you had gotten a PR Wild Force box set, right? How'd you get one? 'Cause I've been lookin' around on the net and I haven't seen anything of the sort; no box sets what so ever. The only thing I've heard is that the guys at Disney (I don't know if it's here or at California) are "talking" about releasing the past seasons on DVD box sets but so far there hasn't been any final decision. (Sighs) Well, I guess we'll just have to milk the meet-and-greets they do at MGM studios and their appearance at the parade for all they're worth.

--

Chapter 16-A series of very fortunate events

--

"Apparently it seems that we all must be suffering from a sense of déjà vu, because if I remember correctly you, along with the White Ranger here, and Felectro had returned here in exactly the same way the last time you fought the Rangers." Mesogog said conversationally.

"Not so much so as last time." Elsa replied.

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Well, those Rangers may have yet put another hurting on us, but it wasn't exactly a one-sided fight, especially in the end."

"And what about the civilian attack that you endured?" Mesogog asked.

Elsa said nothing, but she gritted her teeth and looked someplace else as she turned her head away somewhat.

Seeing as how she wasn't going to answer, Mesogog decided to answer for her. "The fact that you were one-upped once again by a regular human being is nothing short of humorous but also embarrassing. Now the only reason why I didn't yank you out of the fight myself is because at the very least you were able to strategically create a panic, and just when the Rangers pulled out the heavy artillery, you were able to get the upper hand. However, that doesn't change the fact that in the end, you still ended up coming back here reeling, even if it wasn't as much." He paused for a moment. "But seeing as how you didn't fare as badly, I'll give you a small amount of leeway and allow you another chance to pull this off. But this time, raise the stakes a little more and bring back a hostage."

No sooner did Mesogog finish his sentence did Elsa then look at her leader and smile an evil smile.

_Well, lucky for us, I think I know now just who that hostage is going to be._

--

BEEP-BEEP!

"_Here I go again on my own…"_

Tommy's left hand instinctively reached for the radio's SNOOZE button on his bedside table as soon as he heard the alarm go off, but once he heard Whitesnake's lyrics coming out of the small speaker, he decided not to turn it off and to let it play. By the time the song ended Tommy was finally able to get to the tiredness out of his eyes. He then switched his radio off and walked over to the bathroom to wash his face. Once he was done he then stepped out and stretched out his arms a bit as he tried to remember what happened last night.

_Good grief, does having a bad memory include feeling like I have a semi-hangover? And I don't even drink._ He thought to himself as he ran his fingers through his mega-short hair. Then memories of last night slowly started to come back to him: After dropping Kat off Tommy had then tried to make his way back to the cyber café to help clean up the mess Elsa and co. had made, as well as try to explain to his students as to why he was being somewhat aloof yesterday. But once he got back he found that everything was pretty much cleaned up and there was a black garbage bag covering the hole in the window with the bags' sides taped to the window to hold it there.

And waiting patiently by the parking lot was a flustered and semi-irritated Hayley. Once Tommy got to the parking lot he then walked up to her and asked her where were Conner and the others. Hayley just stood there for a couple of seconds looking at him as if he was crazy and asked him if he knew what time it was. Tommy then looked at his watch and saw that it was 8:15. That completely surprised Tommy for he didn't think he would take that long in dropping Kat off. Hayley then told him that after she and the others had cleaned up they waited for him for a half-hour. After 45 min. had gone by they all realized Tommy had taken longer than they thought, so they decided to let him be for the night and go on ahead and have their own Thanksgiving at their respective families' house, except for Trent who couldn't really have one at his own place since his father was "busy with work". Fortunately though Ethan stepped in and invited him over to his house so he wouldn't have to worry about having Thanksgiving by himself. Trent gratefully accepted.

Despite the fact that he knew that his students were going to let him have it the next day Tommy decided to shrug it off for the moment and offered Hayley a ride back to her place. Hayley then gave him a look that meant that he wasn't off the hook anytime soon and told him that he _better_ spill the beans by tomorrow. Otherwise by the time she and the others were through with him, he'd be begging for mercy.

_Well, luckily though it's only 9:07, so that gives me at least two hours to have breakfast, wash up and maybe watch some TV before Hayley and co. get here._ he thought as he then made his way over to the refrigerator. Once he opened it he then took out an egg tray, a half-gallon of orange juice, and a package of raisin bread. Then he went over to one of his lower cupboards and took out a pan. Then lastly he went to one of his kitchen closets and pulled out a Crisco spray.

_Well, here goes. Let's just hope I don't burn everything like last time._ Tommy thought as he then reached for the remote to his CD player. He then picked it up and turned the system on, and in no time at all Larry Greene's "Through the fire" began blaring off the speakers.

Even though he was trying to focus on what he was doing, part of Tommy's mind couldn't help but go back to Katherine. Especially with the talk they had while on the way to Wal-Mart and back. Even though nine years had gone by, Tommy couldn't help but feel…comfortable around her once again. So…at ease. So much so that he could say anything while he was with her and she would just listen in intently and understand pretty quickly without really having to think about it too much. And that wasn't even talking about how she looked in her black sleeveless t-shirt and jeans, which somehow seemed to accentuate her curves even more so…

_Jeez Laweez Tommy, is your mind even on this planet anymore? Good grief, you're supposed to be cooking breakfast for yourself, and instead you're trying to picture Katherine in a bikini! Tommy, do yourself a favor and save those dreams for private time, not now!_

Then all of a sudden Tommy began to smell something burning as he was scrambling his eggs. He then stopped what he was doing and looked where his toaster was and saw smoke coming from the slots.

_Shit!_ Tommy thought as he made his way to the toaster and tried to pull the switch up in hopes of salvaging his toast somewhat. Unfortunately, as he expected, the two slices were charred black.

_Great. Now I wonder if "shaving" some of the burnt parts off is even gonna salvage them at all._

He then went back to cooking his eggs, which fortunately, didn't burn, and then he went and picked up his toast, along with some Parkay butter and a butter knife. For a brief moment he considered "shaving" the burnt slices a little bit with the knife.

_Oh, fuck it._ he thought to himself. _Besides, the burnt toast tastes better with the butter on it anyway._

--

"_Well, on a check of the weather, its sunny and 69 degrees here on your Saturday morning here at Reefside, with no chance of rain but do expect some clouds to shade things up a bit as the holiday season draws ever so near…"_

Katherine woke up to the sound of the radio just as the DJ was getting finished with his weather report. She then blinked her eyes several times more and finally got the tiredness out of them as she got up and stretched. She then switched the radio off and walked over to her terrace. As she opened the sliding door she then took a look outside. So far, it looked pretty much like what the DJ said, it was nice and sunny out, but this time the temperature was quite chilly, and even though Kat had long pants on, the weather still chilled her to the bone somewhat so she quickly went back inside and closed the sliding door behind her.

_Well, at least today it's feeling more like November._ Kat thought to herself. _Hopefully it'll stay that way for a while._ Even though she loved the warm weather, Katherine didn't have much of a problem with the cold. After all, winter wasn't winter unless it was at least a little nippy.

Wondering if there was class today Kat then walked over to where her gym bag was and opened it up in hopes of looking for the schedule that Linda had given her along with the directions to Hayley's Cyberspace. In no time at all she found it and looked at the days and times Cosmos gave its classes. It turned out the dance school gave its classes only on the weekdays and on the weekends it had off, unless it was for special occasions and such.

_Well, looks like I have off today._ Kat thought as she then put the schedule back in her bag and wondered what she could do for the day. Then she saw the small piece of notepad paper with Tommy's address that was on her night table.

"_If you need anything, or if you…need someone to talk to, just call. Or if you want to…stop by my place, don't be a stranger."_

As Katherine looked at the paper a warm smile began to cross her face. Then as she continued to look at the sheet of paper she then felt something fall out of her hand and it the floor with a small thud. Curious, she looked at where the object fell and saw a cell phone lying on the floor.

_Hmm. What's this doing here?_ she thought as she took a closer look at it. _Wait a minute, this isn't mine._ Kat then looked at where the table by the terrace was and saw her own cell phone lying there along with her purse.

_Ok, that's strange._ Kat thought. _What would Tommy's cell phone be doing here? I don't remember passing out on him once we got here last night…did I?_

As Kat sat down on the bed she then began to retrace her steps trying to remember what happened last night. Then she remembered Tommy pulling out a small scrap piece of paper so he could give her his home address and home number.

_He must have accidentally pulled out his cell phone while he was writing the address without even knowing it and handed it _and _the paper to me._

As she was thinking this Kat then began to look back and forth at the cell phone and at the paper with Tommy's home address. As she did, an idea started to come to her and a warm smile once again crossed her face. In no time at all Katherine then got up and went to her suite's bathroom to wash up, with her mind now having a sense of what she could do today, or at least…have someone with whom to spend the day with.

--

"Dr. O!"

Tommy had just sat down by the main computer and was just starting his scan of the city for any of Mesogog's flunkies when he heard Conner's voice boom from upstairs.

_Oh, great._ He thought to himself.

"Dr. O! You in here?"

Tommy then sighed in self-defeat and slumped into his chair.

_Well, may as well tell them the full skinny._ He thought. _Can't beat around the bush now. Although…who's to say I have to tell them it was Kat?_

"Quit yelling, Conner. I'm down here." Tommy answered back.

It didn't even take 10 seconds for Hayley, Conner and his friends to get from their teacher's living room to his underground lab. Once they heard his voice, they turned on the secret passageway and made their way downstairs. Once they got to the main area of the lab, pretty much everyone let loose with his/her accusation barrage.

"Where the hell were you last night?"

"What took you so long?"

"Doc, were you somehow…busy with someone while I was trying to get a hold of you?"

"Did you _really_ leave to get fruitcake, or were you lookin' for somethin' with a more sweeter flavor?"

"Tommy, you owe us an explanation, _now_."

Naturally of course, all of this was being said at once.

"Whoa, whoa! Everyone calm down!" Tommy said.

"Calm down? Okay, let me tell you somethin', doc." Conner said in an exaggerated calmness. "We'll calm down the minute you tell us why A) It took you so long in getting a fruitcake while we were playing 'Pin the tail on the Tyrannodrone', 2) Why after Elsa and co. took off, you bailed out on us to give a girl a ride, and D) why did it take you even LONGER to get back?"

Tommy sighed. _Sheesh. Why do I feel like I'm being interrogated by Lieutenant Sipowicz here?_

"Well?" Everyone asked.

"Okay! All right! Yes, I admit, it was a woman."

"Ah-ah! See? I told you." Ethan said to his friends.

"Look, I unexpectedly ran into her while I was heading out of the cyber café."

"She was heading to the cyber café? What was she doing there?" Hayley asked.

"Well, from what I know, she had just moved here recently and had just started her job yesterday." Tommy replied. "My guess is that one of her co-workers told her about the Thanksgiving party that was going on there and, well…that's when I ran into her."

"Well, judging by the look on your face doc, it seems to me like you and her had a good time." Conner said.

Tommy gave his student a warning look. "It wasn't anything like that, Conner."

Conner didn't buy it. "Okay, fine. Call it what you want doc, but that still doesn't answer Question 2."

"Uh, it's B, Conner." Ethan said.

"B, 2, whatever. It's still a secondary question as far as I'm concerned." Conner said as he then looked at his teacher again for his answer.

"After Elsa and the others took off, I stayed behind so I could find her and make sure she was safe." Tommy continued. "Luckily though, she was, so I offered her a ride back to her hotel suite, and she said yes."

Hayley nodded. "And what about your delay in getting back?"

Tommy just shrugged. "Look, all I can tell you is, I didn't think me taking her was going to take that long, otherwise I would've told you guys not to wait up for me."

Conner then raised his eyebrows. "Dr. O, are you sure there was nothing else that went down?"

"Well, if you call waking her up once we got there and dropping her off at the front of the hotel anything, then yeah." Tommy answered sarcastically.

Conner then shook his head in reluctant defeat. "Okay, all right, fine. I'll bite, but that still doesn't let you off the hook yet, Dr. Oliver."

"Oh?" Tommy then crossed his arms and gave his student a challenging glare. "And why's that?" he asked.

"Because you only gave us concrete answers, doc." Ethan supplied. "Now we need more in-depth answers."

"In-depth?"

"Yeah, as in more…okay, how should I put this delicately-intimate answers." Conner said. "For example-what does she look like?"

Tommy then shook his head in a way that was part-amusement, part-annoyance. "Are you guys really _that_ curious to know who she is?"

Trent just shrugged. As far as he was concerned, his teacher's explanation was good enough for him, and Kira also seemed to have heard enough to let Dr. Oliver off the hook, but Hayley knew there was more than what Tommy was telling them. Ethan on the other hand felt like Trent and Kira did, but his curiosity was getting the best of him, and he, like Conner, was more than curious to know as to who his teacher's mystery girl may be. And of course Conner, being Conner, wasn't about to let it go just yet.

"Well doc, considering the fact that you blew us off in favor of being with this girl (whoever she is) I think the least you can do is give us some details about her." Conner supplied.

"Conner, you do realize that-"

DING-DONG!

Once the doorbell sounded, everyone then turned their heads and looked up.

"Okay, I thought Hayley was already here."

Hayley then cleared her throat and looked at Conner.

"Oh, sorry." Conner said apologetically.

"Are you expecting someone, Dr. O?" Trent asked.

"No, not that I know of." Tommy answered as he got up and headed for the stairs.

"Whoa, hang on a second, Dr. O." Conner said as he held up his hand in front of his teacher.

"Conner, what are you doing?" Tommy asked firmly.

"Dr. O, I really hate to say this, but maybe…could you just maybe wait there for a second or two?"

"But what about-?"

"Leave that to us." Conner replied as he then gestured to his friends to emphasize them as well. "In the mean time try to stay there and try not to get away to have a rendezvous with that girl, whoever she is."

"Conner," Tommy growled.

"Dr. O, come on. It's just us. Besides, it's probably the mailman or something." Conner said. "But seriously, could you try not to take off on us? Please?"

Tommy then looked at Hayley for help, but she just shrugged her shoulders which caused Tommy to just put his face in his hands in utter disbelief.

_I can't believe this. I'm incarcerated in my own house, and by my own students!_

"We'll be back. Hopefully it shouldn't take long." Conner said. "Come on guys."

And with that, the foursome made their way up the stairs.

"Uh, Conner, don't you think that was a little cold?" Ethan asked.

"Ethan, Dr. O may be our teacher/mentor, but he was playing kissy-face with some girl while we were getting our asses whooped." Conner replied. "Now I can't say that I blame him, but we needed his help at the time. So the way I see it, it seems fitting enough."

Ethan sighed. "Okay, whatever you say, man." _10,000-word essay project, here we come._

--

_Okay, now this is really strange. If Tommy's jeep is right over there, then that means he _has_ to be home. But then…why doesn't he answer?_

It hadn't exactly been easy for Katherine to find her way to Tommy's house. After she washed up, changed clothes, and headed to IHOP to have breakfast, she then wondered how she was going to be able to get to Tommy's house. She didn't want to have to pay for a taxi cab to take her all the way to Valencia Road so she decided to ask at the front desk if there were any buses that had routes that passed that road. The receptionist told her that there was in fact a bus that went by the area and in fact that same one actually stopped by here as well.

"The thing is, the bus stops right where Valencia Road starts, so you'll be walking a great deal once you get off. But since there aren't that many houses in that area, you shouldn't have much trouble finding the house you're looking for. Plus the road's quite short, so I'd say it'd be no different than a 20-30 min. walk."

What the receptionist said was as good as gold, for once Kat got off she _did_ have to walk a great deal to get to Tommy's house. Fortunately though, the mailboxes by the houses had the address numbers on them, which made looking for Tommy's house a bit easier.

When Katherine finally got to the end of the road she saw nothing ahead of her but a lot of woods. Then when she walked onto the main road she saw what looked like a makeshift driveway leading deeper into a clearing up ahead. In addition, there was also a mailbox right next to the driveway with the numbers 1992 on it.

Smiling to herself, Kat then got on the driveway and made her way to the clearing.

Once she got to the end of the driveway Kat then saw what she had spent the past 18 minutes looking for.

It was actually pretty nice, with a gray and white color pattern adorning the house's outside and a small porch out front with Tommy's jeep parked nearby. The area in front of the house was spacious enough to have a couple of cars, but from what Katherine could tell, it seemed that the backyard had even more space.

_Well, at least he doesn't have to worry too much about anyone interrupting his solitude. Although…why so far out in the woods?_

Still pondering this, Kat had then made her way up to the front door and after fidgeting nervously to herself she then rang the doorbell.

Now here she was waiting nervously for Tommy to open the door and so far there was no answer. Puzzled, Katherine rang the bell again.

DING-DONG!

Still no answer.

Katherine then looked to where Tommy's jeep was and saw something next it. Curious, she then took a closer look and saw a red Mustang parked next to Tommy's jeep.

_Okay, now that's something I failed to notice firsthand._ She thought. _But who else could be here?_

Kat then turned back to the door and looked at the doorknob. Out of the corner of her eye she could have sworn that she saw movement coming from the window. She then looked in the window and saw pretty much nothing except for the blinds swaying somewhat in the gentle breeze. Deciding to take a chance Kat then turned the doorknob wondering if there was anyone actually _inside_ the house. Much to her surprise the door opened with a light creak.

_Okay, _now_ this is starting to get a little creepy._ Kat thought to herself. "Tommy? Are you here?" she called out as she closed the door.

Once she was inside Kat then had the chance to scope the place out a bit. It wasn't anything excessive, just a simple house with some furniture and the usual necessities for the kitchen and living room and such. Plus there were some occasional dinosaur models and fossils decorating the place.

As Kat looked around she then turned her head and noticed a small collection of pictures adorning part of a wall by the kitchen. Curious once again she then walked closer and saw that all the pictures had Tommy in them and some other people. None of whom Kat recognized, but when she saw that Tommy was dressed in what looked like field gear and digging in the ground in some pictures and then with him standing next to some dug-up fossil in others, she then realized that the pictures were of him and some other paleontologists at a dig some years ago.

_Wow._ she thought as a small smile began to break across the corners of her mouth.

But even though the pictures were pretty amazing, what really caught her eye was the large picture hanging above. It was a picture of her, Tommy, Tanya, Rocky and Adam with their diplomas in their hand. Even though Tommy wasn't able to make it to the graduation ceremony, he was however able to throw a small party of his own at his house that night where he, Katherine, Rocky, Tanya, and Adam got the chance to hang out and talk (not to mention do some Tommy/Kat snuggling). Just before they went home Tommy then snapped one group picture of them with an automatic camera his mom had and promised he would send them copies for each of them to have, and he did.

Though she had her own picture stashed somewhere in her luggage Kat couldn't help but sigh to herself as she looked at the photo wistfully. _How time flies…_

"Okay, I don't mean to be rude, but who are you and what exactly are you doing here in Dr. O's house?"

As soon as she heard the voice Kat then turned around and saw four teenagers standing in front of her and in defensive poses.

_Okay, now I'm really starting to wonder if I even have the right house._ Kat thought. Then she remembered the boy's voice from last night as he called out Tommy's nickname, asking him where he was going last night. Because it had been somewhat dark, Kat didn't really get a chance to recognize him that much or his friends as they wondered about their teacher. Then she remembered Tommy telling her about his four "special" students.

_I guess these must be the four students Tommy told me about last night._ "Who are you guys?" she asked, still not completely sure.

As soon as she turned her head around to face them Conner, Ethan, Kira, and Trent then lowered their fists and calmed down a bit. Although the guys seemed to calm down a little more than Kira did.

"Actually, that's more of a question we should be asking _you_." Kira said matter-of-factly. _Hmmm. She…looks familiar…_

"Okay look, how about if you just tell us what you're doing here, because usually the only people who come in through the door and start walking around like they own the place is usually either Dr. O, us, or someone who looks like he/she might wanna sack the place." Conner said gently.

"Conner," everyone (minus Kat) said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, bad joke."

Luckily though, Kat didn't take offense. "Well, I can assure you I wasn't going to _steal_ anything." she said. "I really just came by because I wanted to give Tommy his cell phone back. He accidentally left it with me when he dropped me off at my hotel last night."

Conner's eyebrows then rose up slyly. "Wait a minute, so _you_ were the mystery girl that our teacher was hangin' out with all afternoon yesterday?"

"Well, I wouldn't say all afternoon, but somewhat. Wait, how did you know that?"

"Oh, um…well…uhhh…I mean…"

All of a sudden Conner really felt like shrinking into his clothes and disappearing, for Kat was giving him a look that seemed all too similar to Dr. Oliver's glare. Kira, Ethan, and Trent saw the glare as well and tried their best not to laugh, namely Kira. After all, it wasn't everyday that a woman could actually stare Conner down and make him feel very small; both literally and figuratively.

As Kira then looked from Conner's incoherent babble to the tall blonde woman a look of recognition then began to cross her face. _Wait a minute…that face…and especially that accent…okay, now I know I've seen her from somewhere._ Kira thought. "I think what he's trying to say now is that he's terribly sorry for acting like Colin Ferrell and also that there may have been a little bit of a misunderstanding. Am I right, Conner?"

Conner said nothing, but when he saw Kira's death glare he seceded and nodded. "Yeah, that's…that was pretty much it." He then turned his face and faced Katherine. "Sorry."

Kat smiled. "It's okay, apology accepted." She said earnestly. "Besides, I suppose I can't really blame you for being a little hostile."

Ethan just shrugged. "Well, that's the thing about our friend here, Miss…"

"Hillard."

"…Miss Hillard. You see he's the kind of guy who usually has a tendency to shoot his mouth first and ask questions later, so-wait a second, what did you say your name was?

"Hillard. Katherine Hillard."

For a couple of seconds no one moved, except for the teens' eyes as they bulged wide open. For a moment neither of them could really believe that the woman standing in front of them was the same woman in the photo that Conner had found while they were sorting through their teacher's paraphernalia. Then they remembered the little love note that had been written on the back of the photo in addition to seeing a blonde woman becoming the second Pink Ranger in Tommy's video journal, and lastly the last name of the "mystery woman" Krista had mentioned last night.

"_She just started teaching at Cosmos today, and according to her, she just arrived in Reefside quite recently."_

Conner, Ethan, and Trent were pretty much shocked even more so than Kira was, and Conner _really_ felt like an asshole for saying what he said to Kat. However, on the other hand he was also very exhilarated to get the chance to meet one of his teacher's old friends (one of whom he was willing to bet Dr. Oliver still thought about) and against his own grain he couldn't help but scope Katherine out head to toe, and while he didn't know it, Ethan and even Trent couldn't help but do the same.

"Okay, _now_ I really feel stupid." Ethan said.

"Try me," Conner added.

"Okay, I think I'm a little confused." Kat said.

"Don't worry about it, Miss Hillard." Kira said. "Just give them a couple of moments."

Kat smiled and nodded. "Oh yeah, by the way, you looked like you recognized me a little bit." She pointed out.

"Well, let's just say that through some roundabout ways we have heard of you somewhat." Kira said. "In fact, come to think of it, I don't think any of us had a chance to introduce ourselves." She realized. "My name's Kira." She said as she offered her hand. "And this is Trent, Ethan, and our little babbler here is Conner."

"Yeah, I think I already know _his_ name." Kat joked as she shook hands with the foursome.

"You do? Really?" Conner asked, amazed and perplexed. "'Cause I don't remember ever meeting you up until-"

"She meant it in the sense that she already heard us say your name while you were busy talkin' gibberish to yourself." Ethan supplied.

"Oh, well…I knew that. I was just testing you guys." Conner said.

Conner's friends just rolled their eyes and laughed lightly.

"Well, I'm glad to meet you guys." Kat said. "As I said before, my name's Katherine Hillard, but you can also call me Kat if you like."

"Y' know, your accent's a little…British-like. You wouldn't happen to be from the UK by any chance, would you?" Conner asked as he heard Katherine's accent.

"No. Actually I'm from Surrey Hill, Australia." Kat replied.

_She's from the land down under? Dang, now I'm really curious to know how Dr. O met her._ Conner thought to himself.

"Hayley, please. Don't try to stop me." Tommy said as he came walking up the stairs from the Dino Ruins to his family room. "Guys, where are you?"

"We're over here in the living room, Dr. O." Trent called out.

"Well, what's going on? What's taking you guys so-"

Tommy didn't even get the chance to finish his sentence, for he was already at the living room before he could finish, and while he was expecting his four protégés to be there loafing about, what he didn't expect was to see Katherine standing there with them. And once he got to the living room she was the first person he saw and once he locked eyes with her, he could not bring himself to finish his sentence.

"-long." Or, at least for the next couple of seconds.

"Hi," he said to Kat.

Kat just smiled a bright smile. "Hi, Tommy." She said, already going into a staring trance.

"What are you doing all the way over here?"

"Well, while I was enjoying my day off (along with the November weather this morning) I had found this." And with that Kat reached into her pocket and pulled out Tommy's cell phone. "I was pretty sure you were going to wonder what happened to it so I decided to come over. I had thought of calling you first, but I figured it'd be better if I came and gave it to you myself." She said as she handed the cell phone back to Tommy.

"But how did you get-"

"The door was unlocked, so it wasn't _too_ hard to get in. But as soon as I was inside I ended up almost getting ambushed by your four students here." Kat said conversationally as she gestured to the four teens who just shrugged.

"It was an accident!" Conner said defensively.

Tommy just shook his head at his student's defensiveness. "Wow…y' know I didn't even realize I had given it to you by accident." Tommy said as he looked back to his phone and checked it. "Score one for my faulty memory." He said to himself as he pocketed his phone. Once he did he then looked at Katherine. "Thanks a lot, Kat." He said earnestly.

Kat smiled again. "You're welcome." she replied.

Now Conner, Ethan, Kira, and Trent were watching the exchange between the two and between Conner and Ethan, they were trying very hard not to get a goofy smile on their faces. Trent was also trying to keep himself from smiling in a crazy way, but luckily for him it wasn't so hard for him to restrain himself. Kira was also watching the exchange and in spite of herself a goofy grin began to spread across the corners of her mouth.

Now Conner was just on the verge of saying something when Hayley came walking in.

"Okay, now can somebody tell me just what the hell is going on here?" Hayley asked.

Everyone then turned their heads and looked at where the voice was coming from.

"Well, _we're_ already up to speed here on this end," Ethan said. "But I think it'll be better if Dr. O takes it from here."

_Thank you very much, Ethan._ Tommy thought sarcastically as he sighed and shook his head a little bit. "Hayley, this is Katherine, the girl that I had run into last night. Katherine, this is my old college friend/lab partner Hayley."

Kat then stepped forward. "Nice to meet you."

Hayley then smiled as she shook Kat's hand. "Same here." she said. _Out of all people for my friend to run into…I mean, what are the odds? Katherine? Here? In Reefside? Who would have thought? And for once this is actually one piece of information that I _didn't_ know about._ Hayley thought. _Tommy's gotta be (or at least in his head anyway) turning to mush right now._

Conner then slapped his thighs gently. "Well Dr. O, on second thought, forget about my question; no details required."

"What details?" Kat asked curiously.

"Well, let's just say that yesterday while everyone was having fun down at the cyber café, three posers who weren't even on the guest list showed up and started to party their _own_ way. Now with the help of some improvisational friends-" he then gestured to Trent. "-and good collaborative teamwork, we were able to slip past undetected and got to the back room safely. However, once we got there we tried to contact our good ole' doc here, but for some reason (and I have no idea why) Dr. O chose to put his communicator on _silent_ mode at the time we needed to get a hold of him." Conner then paused for a moment. "These things don't come with a vibration mode, do they Hayley?"

Now Tommy had been making subtle gestures telling Conner to just can it but Conner, though he saw his teacher's gestures, kept at it.

Kat on the other hand, was feeling as if though the puzzle she had formed in her mind since encountering the Power Rangers (namely the Black one) was finally coming together. And once she heard Conner say 'communicator' a light bulb went off in her head. Then came other memories of the Black Ranger saving her from Elsa's attack…to how the Black Ranger fought…to how he spoke, even though the helmet naturally muffled his voice somewhat. Then there was also the strange sound Kat had heard while she and Tommy were on their way back to the cyber café. Lastly, Kat then looked at the color of clothing everyone (minus Hayley) had on.

_No way…_ Now even though Kat had her suspicions about Tommy, part of her still was in a little bit of disbelief. And seeing the colors on his students' clothes was only justifying her suspicions. However, there was only one way to really know for sure…

"Tommy," she said.

"Yeah?"

"I don't mean for this to sound weird, but do you think maybe you could show me your wrist?"

Tommy then pulled back the sleeve on his denim shirt and showed Kat his right wrist.

"No, the left one."

_Uh-oh._ Tommy then began to stammer a bit. "Um…any reason why?"

"Uh, Dr. O? I think you may as well just show her." Kira said. "I think she already knows."

Sighing defeatedly Tommy then rolled up his left sleeve and showed Kat his left wrist, revealing a silver bracelet with a black gem embedded in it.

As soon as Kat saw the bracelet she then turned and looked where the four teens were and saw them holding up their left wrists, revealing their own bracelets with their respective color gems.

_I knew it._ she thought.

"So…the Rangers that I saw last night outside the cyber café…and during that monster attack in the park the day before…it was you guys, wasn't it?"

The teens nodded.

"Pretty much." Ethan said.

Once Kat then turned her head towards Tommy it didn't take a genius for her to realize that Tommy was the same Black Ranger that had saved her from Elsa and from Felectro.

Kat then looked at the teens again and then at Tommy, her gaze lingering more at him than at anyone else. _So he _is_ back in black!_ She thought. _And here I was almost thinking that it was just my mind giving me crazy thoughts._

"Well…what can I say? Except…thank you guys." She said as she smiled.

Now Tommy was doing everything he could to keep himself from smiling widely, but he failed miserably. "You're welcome, Kat." He replied sincerely.

"Well y' know, I think I can speak for at least two of us here when I say that between me and a certain doc, rescuing beautiful women happens to be our specialty." Conner supplied.

Tommy then shot his student a warning look, to which Conner quickly mouthed, "What?"

Kat laughed and then turned to Hayley, who had been pretty quiet during the entire time but was watching the whole thing with a smile on her face. "Oh yeah, I didn't even ask, you aren't a Power Ranger too, are you?"

"Oh no, not me." Hayley said chuckling.

"She's actually more of our own personal technical wizard." Tommy said. "I'm almost tempted to say Zordon & Alpha, because there's almost nothing she can't create, or fix for that matter. Plus _she_ was the one who built the morphers; all I did was just help out with the gems."

"And that's a fact, jack." Hayley said which caused everyone to laugh.

"So your Ranger powers come from those gems?" Kat asked.

"Yeah." Tommy said.

"How were you able to do that?" Kat asked curiously.

"Well, it's…kind of a long story." Tommy replied.

"That's alright, I have some time."

"Actually, you know what? Why don't we all head down to the Dino Ruins downstairs? That way Dr. O can tell you the whole story, and _we'll_ fill in anything missing." Conner suggested.

"Downstairs?" Katherine questioned. "I thought the house was only one-story."

"Oh, it is, Miss Hillard." Ethan said. "But somehow after Dr. Oliver bought the property he was able to create an underground cave (that we like to call the Dino Ruins) that's right under this house."

Kat then looked at Tommy with a surprise smile. "Really?"

Tommy shrugged. "Really, really."

"Well then, come on, I want to see it."

As Tommy looked right into Kat's gorgeous blue eyes he could have sworn her eyes were doing the pouting. Finally after one second he caved in.

"Alright, come on. Follow me."

As Tommy, Kat, Hayley and Kira then made their way to the hidden stairway Kira then turned around and saw Conner, Ethan, and Trent looking as though they were just staring off into empty space. However in reality they were just looking in the direction Katherine went.

Now Kira kind of expected Conner and Ethan to just turn to mush almost; that was to be expected, but Trent as well?

"Hello!" she hollered out. "Is anyone in there?"

Trent quickly snapped himself out of it a lot quicker, but Ethan and Conner took a little more effort.

"Y' know, I swear; one woman walks in and you guys-namely the two of you-" she then gestured to Conner and Ethan. "-turn to mush as if Keira Knightley or Kylie Minogue just came in and walked by."

"And man, would I love to meet those ladies." Ethan remarked.

"You and me both, dude. You and me both." Conner said.

Trent then looked at Kira and he couldn't help but feel as if though he had been caught drawing topless women. "Okay, okay, I confess; guilty as charged."

Kira then looked at him, smiled, and gently punched him in the arm. "It's okay, I forgive you."

"Dude, don't be shameful about it," Conner said. "Or at least not too much. You're a guy; it's human nature."

Kira was about to say something but Conner stopped her. "And before you say anything Kira let me tell you something, okay? Between the three of us guys here-" _Well, actually two _single_ guys anyway…_ "-we know Katherine's _way_ out of our league, all right? We're not _that_ stupid, or at least I'm not." And it was true. Plus Conner was already getting a sense that Trent and Kira were starting to feel for each other; after all, he saw proof of that when he saw them dancing together just the other night so he knew that Kira just didn't want Trent to end up turning into anther Conner. "But…just because she's out of _our_ league doesn't mean she's out of Dr. O's." he concluded.

"Hey guys! You coming?"

"Hang on, Dr. O. We'll be right there." Ethan called back as he, Conner, Trent and Kira then made their way to the hidden stairway to the Dino Ruins.

--

AN: Sorry this one took so long to upload, but things between my Computer Programming class and working at MGM have gotten a little bit crazy. Now I'll see if _maybe_ I can try to upload the next chapter sometime around Thanksgiving. Now I can't promise anything, but I will try. Also, does anyone know what car Conner drives? If you do let me know. Oh yeah, one more thing: Now I don't know if I was seeing things, but at the end of the "Insomnia" episode and "Endings, part 1" I saw that Mora (a.k.a Morgana) and Emperor Grumm were looking at a VERY BIG creature. Now I don't know about you guys, but that thing looked even more ugly than the monster I saw in the movie "Deep Rising", and that's saying something, because I don't know if any other monster could've been able to take the cake in the ugliness department (cringes). Maaaaan, hell is about to break loose on SPD, I can feel it! (Turns into Yoda) "Begun the battle for earth has."


	18. Chilling Out

AN: Well, I have to say, SPD definitely revitalized itself in more ways than one with "Resurrection", and "Endings", although the one thing I didn't like was the fact that Cruger didn't kill Grumm. Instead he just put him in a containment card. What the heck is up with that, man? He _should_ have killed him. I mean, Grumm killed only everyone on his home planet of Sirius, _and_ he kidnapped his wife and had her incarcerated for God-knows-how-many-years. Grumm doesn't need a prison sentence, he needs a death sentence. But other than that, a great concluding episode. And one of very few.

Oh yeah, Real Vampire, I really hate to tell you this, but there isn't gonna be any Conner/Kira of _any_ kind in this fic or in any of the other ones that I have planned. Besides, I'm not exactly a fan of that pairing and I've always felt that that relationship was really just a brother/sister relationship and not much else, sorry.

--

Chapter 17-Chilling out

--

"Whoa, careful, don't bump your head." Tommy said to Kat as they headed down the stairway to the Dino Ruins with Hayley, Conner, Ethan, Kira, and Trent close behind.

""Y' know Tommy, with the way you have the passageway set up here, it almost reminds me of…"

"Batman?" Hayley and Conner asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Kat said.

"I know," Tommy agreed as he laughed. "And thanks to Hayley here, I've had to hear plenty of them." he concluded as he got off the final step and stepped on the actual floor of the lab. He then took a few more steps before turning around and facing Kat with his arms outstretched.

"Voila!" Tommy said. "Welcome to the Dino Ruins."

"So this is the place, huh?" Kat asked as she looked around the lab with a smile on her face.

"Yeah." Tommy replied. "I mean, I know it's not like the command center or the Power chamber, but…"

"Actually it looks almost as cool as those used to be." Kat remarked. "In fact, this place looks more…comfortable than the other two, for some reason."

"Yeah…" Tommy said as he chuckled. "Well, I had a little help." he continued as he gestured to Hayley.

"Make that a _lot_ of help, Tommy." Hayley said matter-of-factly as she then turned to Kat. "Now Kat, just between you and me, let me tell you something: Tommy may be good with dinosaur bones, fossils, and such, but a rocket scientist-"

"-He ain't." said Tommy's protégés with Hayley.

"Well, now that I think about it I kind of thought as much, because if he actually did do all this by himself, I would have been shocked." Kat replied in mock criticism.

Fortunately though, Tommy picked up on the tone. "Oh well, thank you. That really hurts my feelings." he said with a tone of feigned hurt.

"Easy Tommy. We're just kidding." Hayley said.

"Believe me, I know you were." Tommy replied. "But still…just so you know, I have gotten better over the years…or at least in terms of taking care of my house and stuff."

"Which gets dusty every week because he's down here most of the time." Ethan remarked.

"Ah-hah, very funny." Tommy said.

BEEP-BEEP!

Tommy then turned around and looked at the main computer screen which was showing different areas of Reefside. Because it was showing different boroughs, the pictures were separated into six different images on the screen with the words "Scan complete" imposed at the center of the screen.

"Well, that's good news at least." He said as he stepped forward to the mainframe and took a closer look.

"What's up doc?" Conner asked as he and the others walked over to where he was.

"Oh, nothing." Tommy replied to his student. "Just that while you guys (with the exception of Kat) were on your way here ready to tear my head off, I was just starting my scan of the city. So far everything's pretty quiet now."

"Checking to see if those freaks show up again?" Kat asked.

"Pretty much." Tommy replied.

"Man." Kat mused. "Oh yeah, speaking of which, what were those things anyway?"

"Those dinosaur freaks that you saw are called Tyrannodrones." Tommy said. "They're foot-soldiers that were made out of a combination of Dinosaur DNA and technology."

"Are they as worse as Tengu warriors and Cogs?" Kat asked.

"Hmm. Well, I'd say compared to Cogs, they're much worse, but with Tengus, not so much."

"What the hell are Tengu warriors?" Conner asked.

"Well, let's just say they were Rita and Zedd's version of overgrown emus." Kat answered.

"Oh wait, now I remember seeing them."

"You do?" Kat asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, in Dr. O's video journal." Conner answered.

Kat then got a sly look on her face and faced Tommy. "Really? A video journal, huh?"

"Yeah, I don't know how he did it, but he was able to somehow create a journal of all the Ranger teams that have existed up until this point. In fact, it was actually while we were watching the journal that we had heard of you."

Now Kat was feeling somewhat surprised and partly amused, but then again she wasn't so surprised about the fact that Tommy would still keep an eye on things in his post-ranger life. After all, Tommy was always someone who liked to be prepared; even if he would at times be forgetful.

But what really got her attention was the part about Conner saying that he and his friends had ended up hearing about her in the journal. While that in itself it didn't surprise her; what piqued her interest though was what they may or may not have seen regarding her.

"Really?" Kat repeated. "And what details did you guys see in there?"

"Oh, just that you succeeded that other girl (Kimberly I think her name was) in the Pink Ranger mantle. Why? Was there anything else…?"

All of a sudden Conner then felt a sharp poke in his right shoulder. He then turned and saw Ethan standing to his right tapping his foot whistling to himself. Trent on the other hand was standing behind him with his hand covering part of his forehead with a "I'm not gonna touch that with a ten-foot pole" look on his face while Kira was just shaking her head.

_I swear, if I could have a contest for a surrogate older brother, Conner would win._ she thought.

"Well jeez, what was that for?" Conner asked Ethan.

Ethan just made a cutting motion with his left hand and a cutting sound with his mouth.

"What?" Conner then looked from Ethan to Trent and then to Kira.

From her point of view Kat could tell that what the four teens saw was pretty much what Conner said so she decided to drop the subject and not say anything more regarding that.

"What about those other people that were with those tyrannodrones…the woman with the matrix clothes…the cat/bird-looking creature…and was that another White Ranger I had seen?" Kat asked.

"Yeah, it was." Trent replied.

"How did that happen-?"

Trent just shrugged. "To be honest, even I don't really know. My guess is that probably Mesogog found a way to copy my gem powers just in case the dark energy encoding got neutralized."

"Wait, you mean…you started out being a Ranger on the dark side too?"

Trent shrugged again, a look of guilt already crossing his face. "Yeah…sadly." He replied. "Wait…what do you mean, 'too'?"

Katherine smiled knowingly. "'Cause that's pretty much how I met Tommy and all the other Rangers. Of course, I wasn't a Power Ranger yet."

_Whoa,_ thought the foursome.

"Brutal." Conner said.

"Yeah…but in the end I overcame Rita's spell and got the chance to make up for mistakes."

Kira then looked at Trent and smiled. "Like a certain someone we know." she said which made Trent start to blush.

Tommy smiled and then turned back to Kat. "Well, going back to what you said, the woman who looks like she raided Trinity's closet is a humanoid cyborg named Elsa, who is Mesogog's right –hand person and lead general. She's the one who's been leading the recent attacks on Reefside as of late, as you've probably seen firsthand."

"Don't remind me." Kat said as she remembered her clashes with the cyborg.

"Well if you ask me I think Elsa could definitely go on Prozac." Trent said.

"Amen to that, man." Ethan said.

Tommy chuckled in agreement. "And of course, the cat-bird creature is a hybrid called…Felectro-I think you said his name was-Trent?"

"More or less, or at least that's what I heard from Elsa." Trent answered.

"Why the name Felectro?" Kat asked.

"Who knows?" Tommy replied. "Probably because of the fact that he has the ability to control electricity, I guess."

Kat nodded. "But all those guys are really just the puppets, aren't they?"

Tommy nodded. "Pretty much."

"So, who's the real baddie?"

"He calls himself Mesogog." Tommy replied. "I don't really know where he came from, but somehow he had shown up at around the same time that me and a fellow paleontologist Anton Mercer (who's Trent's adoptive father) had been doing research on Dinosaur DNA and combining it with human technology."

A look of realization then began to cross Kat's face. "Wait…so, in essence…you had helped create those Tyrannodrones?"

Tommy sighed. "Ironically, yes. But you have to understand, when Anton and I created them it wasn't so they could wreak havoc and destroy everything in sight, in fact they were used mainly as assistants and proof that the research had bared fruit. But then Anton Mercer mysteriously disappeared and then shortly after that, Mesogog showed up and was somehow able to modify the 'drones programming and turn them on me." Tommy winced inwardly somewhat as he remembered escaping the Tyrannodrones and getting off the sinking island by the skin of his teeth.

Now everyone had remained quiet during the whole time Tommy had been talking, but none were more quieter than Trent, who knew more or less as to what may have gone down in terms of his father's "disappearance" and his Mesozoic alter-ego chasing Tommy as he was trying to escape. Although Anton had told him about how he unintentionally became Mesogog, Trent had a feeling that his father didn't tell him the whole story.

"What about the gems? How'd you find them? Or did you create them somehow?"

"I had found them." Tommy said. "While I was on an expedition in…Montana-I think it was-I had ended up finding the red, yellow, and blue gems in a large asteroid that had been recently unearthed at the time. Later on I found out that the asteroid, because of its size and weight, theoretically could have been the one that killed the dinosaurs." he continued. "Well, anyway, while I was studying the gems, I found that they seemed to have energies linked to three dinosaurs: the T-rex, Pterodactyl, and the Triceratops. That was when I saw what these gems could do and I decided to hide them for safe keeping, then a couple of years later those three right there-" Tommy then gestured to Conner, Ethan, and Kira. "-had somehow gotten a hold of them, and well, the rest is history."

"Well it's like I once told my buddies here, Dr. O: Things happen when A) you're in the middle of the woods; and B) when you fall into giant sinkholes." Ethan said.

"Just don't expect to find an underground lab the next time you fall into one, though." Tommy replied which caused everyone to laugh.

"What about yours, Trent?" Kat asked.

Now it was Trent who was starting to feel a little bit uncomfortable, namely because he wasn't sure how to explain. "Well I didn't exactly find mine the way Conner, Ethan, and Kira did, much as I wish that had been the case." he answered. "Mesogog had actually gotten a hold of it first, and from what I do know, he had done something to it (I don't know what exactly) but somehow he had put some kind of dark energy encoding on it so once the gem bonded onto someone's DNA not only would he/she have it's power, but it would also…"

"…corrupt that person's personality and make them act like the polar opposite of themselves?" Kat supplied.

Trent nodded. "Yeah."

"Y' know, you kind of failed to mention that before." Conner pointed out.

"I'm still trying to make sense out of it, even now." Trent said earnestly. "I mean, somehow I enter an ivisiportal, end up dab-smack in the middle of Mesogog's lab, and while I'm trying to find a way out the gem literally bonds to me from the table without me even picking it up or touching it. Now I don't know if that's weird, or just coincidental." It was the truth, even though Trent knew he was leaving some stuff out.

"The gem was meant for you to have, Trent. Even though finding it tampered with wouldn't exactly be _my_ idea of finding it myself." Tommy said knowingly.

Kat nodded in agreement. "Oh yeah, Tommy, speaking of the gems bonding to your DNA…what's with that?"

"When the gems are touched by a certain individual, the energies inside it then bond to the person's DNA, thus giving them special abilities depending on the dinosaur that it's based on. It can range from super-agility to camouflage, skin-armor, create sound-waves using your vocal cords, or in my case, invisibility."

Kat narrowed her eyes in disbelief. "No way."

Tommy smiled. "Way." And with that he then looked at his gem, concentrated, and then looked at Kat. For two seconds Kat saw nothing, but then she noticed the black gem on his bracelet begin to glow. Next thing she knew she saw Tommy completely disappear into thin air.

"Tommy?" she asked. "Where are you?"

"I'm right here." Tommy said as he picked up a pencil and then started tapping the table with it. Once he saw Kat looking in his direction he then deactivated his invisibility and reappeared in front of her. The surprised look on her face was priceless.

"What do you think?"

Kat couldn't stop her shocked smile from spreading. "Well, that's definitely something we never had back in the day."

Tommy smiled nostalgically. "I know." He said as he slowly found himself staring right into Kat's eyes again.

"Well, if you think that was something, watch this." Conner said as he walked up to the center of the main area and then dashed all the way to the back. Then he turned around and dashed back to where the others were. "Ta-daa!"

"Show off." Ethan said.

"Hey, at least I can actually show what I can do." Conner said.

"Well, I may not have Sonic-speed, but I can ram through things like only Knuckles can, literally." Ethan continued as he activated his gem power and a skin-like armor began to cover his arms.

"Okay, could you guys just cut it out already?" Kira asked as she then turned to Kat. "Y' know, this is what I have to put up with every single day, of course, with Trent and Dr. Oliver being the only exceptions."

"Believe me Kira, that's a feeling I know only too well." Kat said.

"Oh come on, back in the day me, Billy, Adam, Rocky, and Jason weren't that much of a pain." Tommy protested.

"No, but you guys still had your moments." Kat said.

Tommy sighed. "Okay, true." He admitted which caused all three women to laugh.

"So Kira, what's your gem power?"

"It's the sound-wave thing, or the Ptera scream as I like to call it." she replied. "And Trent over here has got almost the same ability as Dr. O."

"Except that it's a little more like the Predator's camouflage." Trent said as he activated his gem power. "The only way you wouldn't be able to see me at all is if I was standing still, otherwise if I was moving, you'd see a ghost-like apparition of sorts." He concluded as he deactivated his camouflage.

"Wow," Kat remarked. "So, how do the gems bond to you guys?"

"The gems bond only to the people that are meant to hold their powers." Hayley said. "Let's say I had found the Red dino gem for instance, now just because I was the first one to find it and actually hold it in my hand doesn't mean it's going to bond to _my_ DNA."

"Or, to put it in a nutshell, _you_ don't choose the gem, _it_ chooses you." Tommy supplied.

"And those gems tie into your Ranger Powers too, don't they?" Kat asked.

"Thanks to Hayley, they do."

With all the information that Tommy, Hayley and Tommy's protégés were giving her, one would almost think that it would be too much for one person to handle. But for some reason, Kat found herself interested by it almost. In fact, just seeing Tommy turn invisible or seeing Conner zoom to one side of the room, piled on top of the fact that all of them (except herself and Hayley) were Power Rangers was enough to almost make her want to take up the mantle again.

"So, is Mesogog yet another one of those freaks who just want to take over the world and destroy anything that gets in his way?" Kat asked.

"Surprisingly, no." Tommy said. "What he wants to do is pretty much return Earth back to its prehistoric roots, and I don't think that means just reviving ancient plants."

"In other words, dinosaurs, giant crocodiles, and the Megalodon shark, right?"

"Yep." Tommy said. "And of course, with him as the head honcho."

"Y' know, sometimes the more things change, the more they end up staying the same in the long run." Kat mused.

"I know." Tommy agreed. "Now between the six of us we've always been able to botch up his plans in more ways than one, but ever since his new creation Felectro showed up-"

"-we've been getting our asses handed to us while that thing's been harassing everybody." Conner added as he thought back to when Felectro had Krista hostage and dared Conner to fire the Z-rex blaster at them. He fumed inwardly to himself and tried to calm down, but some of his anger still stayed which was starting to puzzle him a bit. Even when Zeltrax had taken Krista Conner hadn't been that pissed off. Now, just thinking about what Felectro did, and seeing Krista in trouble, and him not being able to do a thing…for some reason, it still angered him a bit.

"Well, fortunately though I haven't come across a problem that didn't have a solution to it." Hayley said as she sat down at the chair by the main computer and started punching in keys with Conner, Ethan, Kira, Trent, Tommy, and Katherine watching. Eventually the screen then started to show past fights between the Rangers and Felectro.

"Okay, that thing looks like a rip-off from the Megaman Zero games." Hayley remarked as she saw Felectro completely.

"I know, that's what I'm saying." Ethan said.

Hayley then punched in some more keys and then it showed the hybrid battling the Rangers.

"Okay, this doesn't look like your typical freak of the week."

"Oh, no." Conner agreed as he subconsciously rubbed his chest.

Then Hayley came to a part where it showed Tommy using his Brachio staff's wind power against Felectro.

"Hmm. Well, hello, hello."

"Whoa, Hayley, what is it?" Ethan asked.

"I don't know, but I think I may have found something."

"What, you mean there might be a way to short-circuit Felectro for good?" Conner asked.

"Probably," Hayley said. "It's a little bit of a long shot though, but it just might work. Conner, Ethan, I'm going to need your weapons."

"Our Thunder-max blasters?" Ethan asked.

"No. Your signature ones."

"You mean Conner's staff and my shield?"

"Yeah."

"Oh okay…but, don't we have to morph?" Conner asked.

"You won't have to. Just concentrate and they'll appear in your hands. If you want to say them out loud, that might help too." Hayley replied.

Conner and Ethan then stepped apart from the group and then stood at the main center of the Dino ruins. Once they were standing side by side they then closed their eyes and concentrated as best they could. Finally Conner decided to just go ahead and say its name.

"Tyranno staff," he said.

Suddenly the dino gem on his bracelet began to glow and it transformed into his morpher. Then a small ball of light emitted from it and floated up in front of him only to transform into a bouncing collapsible Bo staff with the Tyrannozord's head on top.

Ethan on the other hand just concentrated and his bracelet turned into his morpher as well, then it also emitted its own ball of light which turned into his Tricera shield.

Once the duo grabbed their respective weapons, the staff and the shield stopped moving around on their own.

"Okay Hayley. We got 'em, now what?"

Hayley then punched in some keys and the table to the left of the main computer opened up, revealing what looked like a large built-in tray, and several scanning devices attached to the side. She then got up from her chair and checked the thing over. Once she saw that everything seemed okay she then flipped the main switch to turn the giant table on.

"Okay, now place the staff and the shield there, right next to each other."

"Whatever you say, Hayley." Ethan said as he and Conner placed their respective weapons on the tray.

"All right…" Hayley said to herself as she then sat back down by the mainframe and started typing.

"Um, Hayley, not for nothing, but do you want to fill us in here?" Trent asked.

Hayley just smiled a confident smile as she looked at Trent and the others. "Trust me guys. I think I've got an idea."

"Is there anything we can do?" Kat asked, curiously wanting in on this.

At first Tommy was about to say something, but a look from Hayley that told him, "Give me a break, Tommy. You _know_ you want to include her in this." pretty much stopped him. Almost instantly a warm smile began to spread and he nodded invisibly.

"Actually Kat, I think there might be." he said as he put his hand on her shoulder, feeling a small rush go through his arm as he did so.

Hayley smiled to herself as she watched the exchange out of the corner of her eye.

_You know, why do I get the feeling that Tommy's life is about to change for the better?_

--

AN: Just in case if you error-catchers were wondering, the part where Kat asks, "Is there anything we can do?" is not a typo. Even though she was including herself, she was also including Trent, Kira, and Tommy as well. But of course, if you already knew that, ignore this part I just typed. Now I don't know if this was a little cheesy or not, but I'll let you guys be the judge of that. If it was, sorry. Well, anyway, I am off to sleep now, so, Happy Thanksgiving and (turns into Jack Sparrow) drink up, me hearties, yo ho!


	19. Madness at Lunchtime

Chapter 18-Madness at Lunchtime

WEAPONS RECOGNIZED. INPUT TRANSMISSION READY.

"Okay, let's get this thing going here." Hayley said as she saw the words being displayed on one corner of the screen. The rest of the screen showed somewhat of a schematic layout of Conner's Tyranno staff and Ethan's Tricera shield. Next to each weapon was a bar that showed the status of what Hayley was going to transmit into them.

"Um, Hayley, I don't mean to repeat what Trent just said, but do you think maybe you could fill the rest of us in on what's going on? Because I think six out of the seven of us (myself included) are pretty much in the dark here." Ethan said.

"Okay, fair enough." Hayley said as she turned from the screen to face Ethan. "Everyone, come on over." she said as she gestured with both hands to beckon Trent, Kira, Conner, Tommy, and Kat over to where she and Ethan were.

"Okay Hayley, we're here. _Now_ do you think you could fill us in?" Conner asked.

"Indeed I will." Hayley said as she then turned to Ethan. "Now Ethan, here's a rhetorical question: Have you played Megaman Zero 1 & 2?"

"Yeah, of course I have." Ethan said.

Hayley nodded. "And when it came to taking on a few bosses, namely those with oh, I don't know, say…electric-based powers, what element chip would you use?"

"I used a…an ice chip." Ethan said as a look of realization began to cross his face as he started to catch on to what Hayley might be planning.

"Okay, I don't mean to interrupt, but what does a video game have to do with stopping a cross-bred cat-bird creature?" Conner asked.

"Interestingly, something." Hayley replied. "Or to put it more specifically, something from it."

"Okay, I'm still lost."

"Okay, let me show you what I mean." Hayley said as she turned back to the computer screen and punched in some keys. Once she was done a few displays of Tommy using his Brachio staff's wind power against Felectro showed up on the screen.

"What do you guys see?"

"Felectro getting blown away (literally blown away) by Dr. O's wind strike." Trent said.

Hayley then raised one finger. "A-hah! Keyword: wind. So what do you think that tells you?"

"Uh-that he doesn't like wind." Conner answered.

"Not just any kind of wind," Hayley said. "Cold winds. Or put more specifically…" and she then punched in some more keys which then brought up an image of Felectro in the cyber café getting water in his eyes, thus causing him to writhe about in pain. "…anything that's cold."

"Okay, whoa, hold on. Care to run that by me again?" Conner asked.

Ethan sighed. "Conner, what Hayley's trying to say is that Felectro's body can't handle anything cold."

"Or anything that could disrupt his electrical powers." Hayley said as she punched some more keys and an image of Felectro reeling from the earthquake strike Tommy had used against him.

"Hmm. Okay, I only see him reeling." Trent pointed out.

Hayley then did a sequence with the keyboard which then caused the image to zoom in more.

"Take another look." she said.

Conner, Ethan, Kira, Trent, Tommy, and Kat looked closer and saw Felectro reeling on the ground, his claws not even crackling in the slightest.

"Why, he's practically…" Kat began.

"…as helpless as a beached whale." Tommy said.

"Not only that, but he's not generating any electricity what so ever." Hayley said.

"So let me see if I got this straight-basically, if we use something that's cold, or anything similar to an earthquake, we could actually put this guy down for the count?" Kira asked.

"More than likely," Hayley said. "This was why I needed Conner's staff and Ethan's shield." She concluded as she closed the image windows, leaving only the schematic of the two aforementioned weapons on the screen.

"Is this part of your idea?" Ethan asked.

"Yes." Hayley said as she pointed to the screen. "What this is is basically a program that's going to transfer some new features to your weapons. Now I've already been working on this for a while, and I was going to tell you guys about it once I was done completely with it, but seeing as how Mesogog's decided to amp things up a bit, well…now's as good a time as any, right?"

"You can say that again." Conner said as he looked at the screen.

"So what are they going to have?" Ethan asked eagerly.

"Well Ethan, your shield is going to have is what I like to call a "Blizzard shot" mode. What that means is instead of firing regular stinger darts it'll shoot out icicles that will freeze anything they touch. Now granted, that's not going to topple Felectro that much, but it should slow him down considerably."

"Sweet." Ethan said.

"What about mine?" Conner asked.

Hayley smiled. "Oh, I think you're going to like yours, Conner." she said. "What I've got for you is an earthquake feature."

Conner's face lit up. "You mean, like the one on Dr. O's Brachio staff?"

"Well…yes and no." Hayley said. "What it'll do is that once the staff has enough energy, it can unleash a fissure that could take out fifty Tyrannodrones with one strike."

"Well, dude-I mean that…that's awesome! One strike? So all I would have to do is just put the staff on the ground and-?"

"Not really." Hayley replied. "To make it work, you have to twirl the staff back and forth, left to right and vice versa so it starts gathering energy from around it, then slam the head of the staff down on the ground so it releases the energy as a fissure. You have to do it quickly though, because if you do it slowly it's going to take forever."

"Oh, don't worry. I've no intention of taking my sweet time with that poser."

"Okay. So having said that, does everyone get it now?"

Everyone nodded.

"Okay, good."

"So what do we have to do now?" Kat asked.

"Right now we have put the features into those two weapons. Once that's done, we'll be ready."

"All right then. Let's get started." Conner said as he rubbed his hands together.

"Okay, now I need two people to keep an eye on the status over here on the machine with the two weapons there and to make sure everything's all right during the upload."

"I'll do it." Ethan volunteered.

"Me too." Katherine added.

"Are you sure?" Hayley asked.

"I'm sure." Kat replied. "Now I may not be technically proficient, but I do know a few things." she said as she remembered helping Tommy, Adam, and Tanya activate the Turbo powers that Billy had been working on just before he had left for Aquitar.

Hayley then looked at Tommy who just smiled brightly and nodded his approval.

"All right, go ahead." she said.

"What about the rest of us?" Conner asked.

"Just come on over here and keep an eye on things here with me."

As Kira, Trent, Conner, and Tommy overlooked things from the mainframe, Ethan and Kat were busy checking the machine over. However Kira got bored with it and decided to go help Ethan and Kat.

"Okay, it's all set on this end." Ethan said to Kat once he was done.

"Great." Kat said as she then hit a button with the words END MODE MODIFICATION on it. Suddenly the machine started to hum a bit and the word READY appeared on a small screen on one side of the machine.

"Okay, all systems go here." Kat said.

"Great." Hayley said as she then entered in a series of commands on the keyboard. Then finally the words DATA INPUT TRANSMITTING NOW appeared on the screen.

"Okay, it's done. It should be doing it now." Hayley said as she saw the status bar on both munitions begin to rise bit by bit.

"Kat, what's the percentage?" Tommy asked.

"12 so far." Kat reported.

For the next while the group of seven would just look at the main computer screen or the machine with the munitions, depending on where they were, with Kat saying the percentage progress every now and then. Once she said "100" Hayley then looked at her own screen and saw that the status bar on both weapons had also reached 100 as well in addition to a DATA INPUT TRANSMISSION COMPLETE imposed on the screen.

"All right. It's done." Hayley said as she wiped some sweat from her forehead.

"So that's it? We're finished?" Trent asked.

Hayley nodded. "Yeah." She answered as she ended the program and switched it off leaving only the screen saver with the Dino-Thunder symbol.

"Well, shouldn't we test them first? I mean, this is some heavy-duty stuff you put in these things." Ethan remarked as he and Conner picked up their respective weapons.

"Normally I would give them a test run, but the only way to know what they can really do is on the battlefield, and seeing as how we don't really know when or where Elsa and co. are going to strike next, all we can do now is just wait." Hayley said.

"That's it? Just wait?" Kira asked.

"I'm afraid so." Hayley said as she then turned around back to the screen and checked the scanner. When she came up with nothing she turned back to the others. "And unless Mesogog found a way to scramble up our scanning system, I've got nothing here."

"Well at least now we're prepared, so if they decide to show up, we'll be ready." Conner said as he looked at his staff which then disappeared into a ball of light and went back into his morpher. Ethan's shield also did the same.

"Oh yeah, does anyone know what time it is?" Conner asked.

Tommy checked his watch. "It's about 12:45, why?"

Conner patted his stomach. "I'm feeling hungry."

Now Ethan was on the verge of saying something about Conner thinking only with his stomach but then he felt his own stomach begin to growl. "I hate to say it, but me too."

Tommy then looked at Hayley, Kira, Trent, and Katherine and he could see that pretty much everyone (himself included) was beginning to feel the same way Conner and Ethan did hunger-wise.

"So…anyone in the mood for a burger and a smoothie?" Tommy asked.

"Uh, Tommy, hello?" Hayley said.

Tommy then looked at Hayley and suddenly remembered what had happened at the cyber café last night. "Oh, right. I forgot."

"What happened?" Katherine asked.

"Remember the cyber café where Elsa and co. were last night?"

"Yeah, a little."

"Well, that's the place that I manage. Unfortunately because of what happened last night it got trashed up pretty good so I decided to close it today for repairs until I can get a replacement window."

"How long is that going to take?" Ethan asked.

"Well, I called a glass repair company this morning and they said they can come by and get it repaired sometime tomorrow."

"Well, that's good to hear." Trent remarked.

"Well, why don't we all head someplace for lunch then?" Kat suggested. "I mean, it doesn't look like they're going to show up anytime soon."

"True." Tommy said with a thoughtful, unsure look on his face. Though he wanted nothing more than to have lunch with Kat, he couldn't help but feel as though Elsa and her cohorts would appear someplace and try to draw them out again. Or worse-case scenario, Kat might end up in the crossfire and get hurt, or worse.

"Doc, we're starving here. Or at least I am. Okay, so we can't use the cyber café at the moment, but can't we at least go to…Subway or something?" Conner pleaded as he saw the unsure look on his teacher's face. "I mean, come on, we already got the upgrades, we can do no wrong; especially if Elsa, Felectro, and that Ranger imposter show up."

Tommy looked at Conner, then at Hayley, Kira, Trent, and Ethan, not even needing to look at them twice to know that they were agreeing with what Conner said. Then when he looked at Katherine, or more specifically right into her eyes he then threw that fear into the wind.

"All right, let's go. Let's do it. But…let me pay though." He said as he smiled at Katherine and got up.

"Go ahead, I'm dead broke anyway." Conner said.

"Dude, you're always broke." Ethan said.

--

After debating a little bit on where to go for lunch, it was finally agreed that they would go eat at a Subway near Alta Drive. Tommy and Kat took the jeep with Hayley sitting in the back, while Conner and his friends went in Conner's Mustang with Conner and Ethan in the front and Trent and Kira in the back.

"So Katherine, Tommy tells me you just recently arrived here in Reefside." Hayley said.

Kat nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I did. After a couple of years at the Royal Academy, I just felt it was time for me to break off on my own and start over. So about a year ago I called around and sent e-mails (with a little help from an old friend) to some of the dance schools here in America (or more specifically, here in California). Then a few weeks later I got a job offer/interview at Cosmos so I packed my bags and made my way over here."

"Wait, isn't that the dance school down on Jackson Blvd.?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, that's the one." Kat answered.

"So you came all the way from London to Reefside to teach dance to girls (and guys)?" Hayley asked. "Seems a little bit like a long shot though, don't you think?"

Kat nodded. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. But as strange as it sounds, it was something I wanted to do." she replied. "Plus on a personal side I had wanted to come back to the states anyway."

"Any specific reason?" Tommy asked curiously as he joined in the conversation.

Kat then looked at Tommy and smiled. "I guess you could say it was more of the memories that I had here." she said. "I mean, don't get me wrong, the years I had at the Royal Academy were awesome, but as much as I had liked being there, there was just something…I don't know, something…telling me that maybe moving back here to California would be a good choice. I mean, I know that sounds a little strange, and at times I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it, but that was how I felt."

"Well, for what it's worth, it doesn't sound strange to me." Tommy said, remembering back when he was first going into paleontology he would at times ask himself if he was sure that this was the field he wanted to go into.

"Thanks, Tommy." Kat said.

Tommy just smiled and chuckled a bit as a light blush began to spread up his neck. "Oh yeah, are you still staying at the Days Inn?"

"Yeah, I still haven't had time to look into an apartment yet, but I'm hoping to do that when I get back to my suite."

"Well, how about if once we're done we head back to Tommy's place before you get back later, I'm pretty sure I can look up some apartments for you." Hayley suggested.

"Wow, thanks Hayley." Kat said.

"No problem."

A while later they arrived at Alta Drive where Subway was and interestingly enough they were able to find two parking spaces right next to each other so Conner was able to park his Mustang next to his teacher's jeep. Once they got out Conner, Ethan, Kira, Trent, Dr. Oliver, Kat, and Hayley then went inside to get some food. Conner went for the Spicy Italian, Ethan chose Turkey Breast, Kira chose Sweet onion Chicken Teriyaki; Dr. Oliver chose Tuna; Kat chose the same hero sandwich as Kira did-Teriyaki; and Hayley chose Cheese-Steak.

After the group got their respective subs and Tommy paid for all of theirs (except Hayley who insisted that she would pay for hers) they then looked for and found two round tables they could use. As they ate their lunch Tommy's students then asked Kat about the things she did at London's Royal Academy, even though it was Kira who did most of the asking. When Katherine then mentioned that at one point she had actually been brought on as a choreographer for a Beauty and the Beast play in London Kira's eyes (and pretty much everyone else's at the two tables) lit up.

"So Disney actually has a production over there too?" Ethan asked. "I mean, I knew they had the one on Broadway, obviously, but…"

"Oh, they have it over there, all right." Kat replied with a nostalgic tone. "And even though it was a smaller production than the one you would see on Broadway, it was still pretty impressive. And you know…to me, that was probably…I'd say it was probably the best experience that I ever had while I was there, and the most rewarding."

"No doubt about that." Tommy agreed as he sipped some lemonade.

"Oh, no." Kat agreed. "In fact it was actually because of that experience that I really started to seriously think about teaching dance, not just as a pastime, but as a job."

"Why here specifically though?" Kira asked. "I mean, why not New York, or…?"

"Well, I _had_ thought about going there, but…I don't know, somehow…it just felt like it would be better if I moved back here to California; I mean I know that sounds kind of strange, but the truth is, a lot of the memories and experiences-" she then smiled at Tommy. "-that I had were here in California (or more specifically Angel Grove)."

"So, with that in mind you figured, _Why not go back to where it all started?_" Ethan asked.

"Pretty much." Kat replied. "Plus, Cosmos was the first school to answer me back, so…"

"Man." Conner mused as he snacked on Lay's BBQ chips.

"Oh yeah, Hayley, how's the cyber café look? I know that with what Elsa and all of them showing up and trashing everything the fallout couldn't have been pretty." Kat asked.

"Well, in a nutshell, it wasn't exactly a friendly sight, but the mess wasn't as bad as it could have been. So cleaning up wasn't so much of a headache. However, if a certain teacher hadn't taken so long in getting back we could've been done earlier."

Tommy sighed. "Are you guys going to keep breathing down my neck about that?" he asked as he finished his Tuna hero. "I said I was sorry."

"Well doc, I wouldn't really call it breathing down your neck." Conner said. "Just stating fact. It's cold and harsh, but it's fact."

"Wow, I didn't actually know you to be one to use big words." Ethan said sarcastically.

"What? I'm a work in progress." Conner said which caused Ethan, Kira, Trent and Dr. Oliver to laugh.

"Oh yeah, Kat, speaking of Thanksgiving, were you able to go get something-?" Tommy asked.

"No, not really." Kat said as she finished up her sandwich and put everything in the Subway bag it came in. "Once you dropped me off, I pretty much changed and went to sleep."

"So you didn't really have much of a Thanksgiving, huh?" Tommy asked.

"No," Kat answered. "Well, when I first arrived I didn't really know anyone that lived here, although had I known that you were living here, I probably would've called you, but as it was, I didn't know your number or anything of the sort, so…"

"Yeah…" Tommy said as he looked down a little bit, then back to Kat.

"Well, you know…" Trent began.

"What is it, Trent?" Kira asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just talking to myself." Trent said.

"You were going to say something, man. What was it?" Ethan said.

"It's nothing. It's just something that popped up in my head but I don't know…"

"Dude, come on, spill it." Conner said. "You're milking the suspense here."

Trent sighed. "All right, here's the deal." he said as he drank the last of his Sierra Mist. "Seeing as how our Thanksgiving party got ruined last night, and seeing as how we have an old fla-excuse me-friend of Dr. O's here, I'm thinking that maybe…could we maybe…have a Thanksgiving party of our own at Dr. O's place?"

"Whoa, y' know what? That's not too shabby of an idea." Ethan said as he pictured the idea in his mind. "What do you guys think?"

"Hey, sounds pretty good to me." Kira said.

"Dude, come on, you really need to ask? So long as we don't have to worry about Mesogog crashing the party, I'm there." Conner said.

"Hayley? Kat? Dr. O? What do you think?"

Kat was thoughtful for a moment. "Sounds a little bit like a belated Thanksgiving party, but…sure, why not?"

"Well, usually I'd throw the party at the cyberspace, but since that's not really an option (as all of you have seen/heard of) I'm all for it, but the question is, is our friendly neighborhood doctor here okay with it?" Hayley then looked at Tommy.

Tommy looked at Hayley, then at all of his students and then at Katherine, getting thoughtful as he faced each of them. Then suddenly a smile began to break out. At first it was small, but then when he looked at Katherine a second time, his trademark smile, or at least the smile that Kat could always recognize and love, was shining through.

"Let's do it." he said.

"Yes!" "All right!"

"But…if we're doing this, can we try not to trash my place though?"

"Doc, the only time you ever actually use your house is if you're going to sleep, washing up, or cooking breakfast, lunch, or dinner. And occasionally if you want to listen to music or watch the Tony Danza show." Ethan said. "Besides, you should know us by now that we're not going to wreck the place. Although I'm not too sure about Conner, though."

"Hey! I resent that!" Conner retorted as he stuffed the last chip in his mouth.

"Just kidding, man." Ethan said.

"Well, since we are doing this at your place Tommy, how about you do the cooking?" Hayley asked rhetorically.

"Oh, um…I…"

"I…what?" Hayley asked with a very rhetorical tone.

"Well, it's just that…I can't…really…"

"No! You can't really cook, can you, doc?" Ethan asked.

Tommy then looked at his students and sighed defeatedly. "No, not really." He said. "Well, unless you count making cold cereal and maybe toast (and sometimes _that_ can be a pain) cooking, then, yeah."

"Boy, and I thought I was worse." Conner said.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better Dr. O, you can leave the cooking to me." Trent offered.

"Yeah, since we apparently have our own Emeril Lagasse here, we'll spare you the pressure of having to do that." Ethan said as he clapped Trent on his shoulder.

"Ah-hah. Very funny." Tommy said.

--

Once everyone was done with lunch, they then headed out of Subway to head for their cars and go back to Tommy's house. They were just getting close to their vehicles when an invisiportal opened up and Elsa, Felectro, and the White Ranger clone appeared, along with the usual Tyrannodrones.

"Well, well, if it isn't our old buddies from last night!" Felectro crowed.

The bystanders that were nearby started to run away for cover once they saw Mesogog's henchmen appear.

"Y' know, why can't you guys bother somebody else for once?" Kira asked.

"And miss out on seeing your inevitable demise? Come on, you should know us (or at least me) better than that by now." Elsa declared as she drew her sword. "But that's enough formalities for the moment; let's get this party started, shall we? Attack!" she commanded as she pointed her sword at the group of seven.

"Hayley, Kat, get back. We'll take care of these guys." Tommy said as he and his four protégés took their battle stances.

"But-" Kat protested.

"Kat, trust me." Tommy said as he looked at her square in the eye. He didn't say it in words, but as he looked at Kat he wanted her to know that he just didn't want her to get hurt out of helping him and his students. Though he knew Kat could more than hold her own when it came to Tyrannodrones, as he had already seen, he knew it would be a completely different story if she took on Elsa or the White Ranger clone by herself.

Kat of course could easily see what Tommy was trying to "say", but before she could reciprocate she then heard Conner yell, "Dr. O! Look out!" Kat then looked to the right of Tommy and saw a Tyrannodrone leap at him.

Tommy also heard his student's yell and turned in the same direction Kat was looking and saw the drone as well, but since it was coming at him fast and close, he found he wouldn't be able to avoid it. Reacting quickly Kat then leaped above Tommy and executed a sort of tornado kick that caught the drone off guard, knocking it back towards its fellow drones. Once she landed back on the ground she then gave him a look that said she wasn't going to stay on the sidelines, Ranger powers or not.

Conner, Ethan, Kira, and Trent also saw the move Kat had done and had their eyes and mouths wide open in surprise. However, they couldn't really relax for more drones started coming at all seven of them.

"Hayley, take cover somewhere." Tommy said. "Kat? Stay close to me and be careful."

"Always." Kat said as she smiled lightly.

While Tommy, Kat, Ethan, Trent, Conner, and Kira fought the Tyrannodrones, Hayley then took cover behind some cars. As she saw them approach she then took out a small device from her pocket and switched it on.

_Hope this works._ She thought to herself as she entered in a series of codes into the device. As she was finishing up she then heard a low growl and saw some Tyrannodrones facing her. Hayley then stood up calmly as the drones then raced towards her and pointed the device at them. At first there was nothing, but then when Hayley looked at the screen she then saw the words "Emitting Signal" appear on the screen and then when she looked back up she saw the Tyrannodrones in front of her begin to flail wildly out of control. Some then started to have sparks exploding out of their bodies as they started to collapse and shake like they were having seizures.

Once Elsa saw that the Tyrannodrones were getting schooled (not surprisingly), she then decided to take things up a notch and so she fired an energy beam at the group of six, knocking them all down to the ground.

"You know, I really hope you don't pull off the same stunts like last time." Elsa sneered. "Because now it's just getting boring."

The group recoiled a bit as they struggled to get back up. Conner then looked to his right and saw his teacher helping Katherine to her feet. To his left he saw Kira doing the same with Trent and Ethan trying to get up on his own.

"If you came all the way here hoping we'd give you the same can of whoop-ass, you better think again, sweetheart." Conner snapped back. "'Cause we're about to open up a whole new can on you. You guys ready?"

"Ready!" replied Ethan, Kira, Trent, and Tommy as their morphers appeared on their wrists.

"Dino-Thunder, power up, hah!"

"White Ranger, dino power!"

Once the five Rangers were morphed Kat just stood with her jaw hanging open. Even though she had morphed herself back in the day, she still couldn't help but feel amazed as she saw Tommy and his students morph into their respective suits, particularly seeing Tommy morph into his Black Ranger outfit. While she now realized that the Black Ranger was in fact Tommy, she had never seen him morph before. Now, actually seeing him morph and seeing him decked out in his black duds was starting to give her a sense of déjà vu. Namely back to when she had been under Rita's spell and Tommy and Ninjor had been fighting off a horde of Tengu warriors while she had been watching in the distance. Though she was under the spell at the time she could not help but watch Tommy's movements as he fought them off, sighing wistfully to herself…

_Not now, Katherine, NOT NOW!_ Kat's mind yelled.

"We'll see who breaks the can out on who, kiddies." Felectro said as he flexed his claws.

The five Power Rangers took their battle stances and charged right for the evil trio while Katherine dealt with the remaining Tyrannodrones.

She had then just taken down one when she saw Hayley point her device at a drone, causing it to flail about and collapse.

"Hayley, are you all right?" Kat asked.

"I am now." Hayley said as she turned her device off.

"What was that thing you used?"

"A little something I made while down at the lab." Hayley replied. "Since I don't have martial arts skills like you guys do, I gotta improvise somehow."

"Improvise this." Elsa said as she threw her sword lightsaber-style at the two women. Luckily they were both able to dodge it in time so it didn't lop off their heads. Rather it just whizzed above their heads and returned back to Elsa who then got a death glare on her face as she faced Kat.

"You just can't seem to stay out of my way, can you?" Elsa asked as she stared daggers right at Kat.

"By the looks of things, no." Kat answered. "But then again, from what I can tell, _you_ can't seem to know when to give up, can you?"

Elsa then uttered out a battle cry and she then charged right at Kat. Kat then quickly told Hayley to take cover just as Elsa raised her sword hoping to slash her in half. Kat however, was able to grab Elsa's wrist and stop her slash. Elsa then tried to side-kick her but Kat blocked the blow with her right forearm and then did a front kick that knocked the cyborg off her feet, or so Katherine thought for the next thing she knew Elsa started to spin 180 degrees and ended up back on her feet with her knees bent which surprised Kat a bit.

"Nice moves," Elsa said. "Let me show you mine."

And with that she then did a quick foot sweep that knocked Kat off her feet and caused to fall on her chest.

Once Elsa saw that she was down she then walked over and picked her up by the back of her shirt as if she weighed no more than a feather.

"As much as I'd like nothing more than to skewer you here and now, it seems my master has requested that I actually take a hostage and bring him/her to him." She snickered. "Lucky you."

"Kat!" Tommy yelled as he did a flying kick at the White Ranger clone, knocking him down for the moment. "Let her go, Elsa!" he yelled as he charged right towards them.

Elsa snarled. "Put a sock in it, lover boy." She said as she pointed her sword at the Black Ranger, firing an energy stream that hit him point-blank in the chest, knocking him backwards by several yards.

"Dr. O!" Ethan said as he and the others ran to where their teacher was to help him.

"Your teacher will be all right." Elsa said. "But I wouldn't be so sure about his new friend here."

"Let her go, Elsa." Tommy said with a warning tone.

"Ooooh, did I just hit a soft spot of yours, Tommy?" Elsa asked mockingly. "Well, too bad. 'Cause she's Mesogog's guest now. But don't worry, you'll have these two to keep you company." She then gestured to Felectro and the White Ranger clone. "T.T.F.N., Rangers." she said mockingly as she (with Kat still in her grip) leaped into an invisiportal back to Mesogog's island fortress.

"Kat!" Tommy yelled.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about her as much as I'd worry about my own hide, Black Ranger." Felectro said as he took his battle stance.

Gritting his teeth in anger, Tommy tightened his grip on his Brachio staff as he and the others drew their weapons and took up their own battle stances.

With the White Ranger clone flanking him, Felectro flexed his claws, causing electricity to crackle from them, but this time, they were crackling more than before.

"So what do you say, Rangers? Let's finish this!"


	20. Fourth time's the charm

AN: I went back and made one small edit to Ethan's new attack, so if you're curious go back to the last chap and check it out. If you don't want to, that's okay.

--

Chapter 19-Fourth time's the charm

Kat struggled as Elsa handed her over to two Tyrannodrones so she could head to the main room of the fortress. Fortunately for Elsa, Kat was still reeling from the foot-sweep she had done, so it was a little easier for the drones to hold her.

"What do you want with me?" Kat asked Elsa defiantly.

Elsa turned and faced her. "You want the truth?" she asked rhetorically. "Well, personally if I had my way I would put you out of your misery right here and now, if for no other reason than for having been bested and humiliated by a non-Power Ranger blonde bitch of a slut like you, but seeing as how those weren't my master's instructions, you won't have to worry…well, at least for the moment, anyway."

"Ah," Mesogog said in amazement as he turned in his swivel chair to face Elsa and Kat. "Well for once Elsa, I will earnestly say job well done."

"So you must be…Mesogog." Kat said as she glared at the reptilian mutant.

"Ah, I see that my reputation precedes me." Mesogog said as he rose from his chair and stepped towards Elsa and Kat. "But then again, fraternizing with the likes of Dr. Oliver and his Power Ranger protégés can do that."

Katherine just glared. Mesogog however, wasn't fazed by it.

"But enough with the pleasantries, let's get down to business." he then turned to the two Tyrannodrones who were still holding her. "Tie her to the life-force extractor."

Though the drones kept a vice grip on her, Kat still struggled all the same.

Once she was strapped into the chair, Elsa walked over to a control panel and began entering in a series of codes while Mesogog walked over to where Kat was.

"I don't suppose you could tell me what you plan to do with me, do you?"

"Well, since you were gracious enough to ask, I suppose it's only fitting to tell you." Mesogog answered. "You see my dear, I originally was just going to keep you as a hostage, but recently it's come to my attention that during the few encounters that my sometimes competent, sometimes incompetent general Elsa had with you, you were more than able to hold your own against her, and with no Ranger powers at all. Needless to say, that's quite an interesting combination, and one that I find a little far-fetched."

"So why do you have me strapped under a device that will probably kill me once you turn it on?" Kat asked.

Mesogog snarled. "Just because it's called the 'life-force extractor' doesn't mean that _that's_ its only function, as you'll see." He then turned and walked over to where Elsa was. "But in the mean time, I'll be generous and give you a front-row seat of sorts to Dr. Oliver and his students' demise."

Kat sneered. "And what makes you so sure you'll succeed? According to Tommy, he and his students seemed to have pretty much botched up every plan you can concoct; how do you know this won't be any different than the previous times?"

"Well, why don't you just take a look for yourself?" Mesogog asked as a holographic viewing screen dropped from the ceiling and showed Kat the battle that was ensuing between Tommy, Conner, Ethan, Kira, Trent, and the White Ranger clone and Felectro.

"Dr. Oliver and his four Power Rangers won't escape me this time."

--

"So what do you say, Rangers? Let's finish this!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Conner said as he and the others activated their respective weapons from their belts. "Tyranno staff!"

"Tricera shield!"

"Ptera grips!"

"Brachio staff!"

"Drago sword!"

Not wasting any time, the Rangers then charged at Felectro and the White ranger clone. Trent, Kira, and Dr. Oliver took on the clone while Ethan and Conner dealt with the hybrid.

Ethan then raised his shield just as Felectro swiped a heavy claw at him. Though the blow didn't connect, it did make Ethan stagger back a few steps. Luckily though Conner rushed in and slammed the head of his staff on the side of the hybrid's face. Furious, Felectro looked to his left and quickly backhanded the Red Ranger savagely while using his right claw to knock Ethan's shield arm away which he then followed up with a fierce kick that sent Ethan flying a few yards.

"Uh, bro," Ethan said as he struggled to get up. "I think now would be a good time to use those upgrades."

"Oh really, you think?" Conner asked rhetorically.

"I can't believe this." Felectro remarked. "I was actually hoping this wouldn't be a reenactment of the last three times we tussled, and instead you kiddies just keep pouring the same crap over and over again. Boy, as far as I'm concerned, you two have about as much style as my pinky claw, and that's just sad, 'cause it's probably got more style than half of you."

Conner chuckled. "If you really think that's all we've got, you're not even close, pal. Not even close. In fact, we're just getting warmed up!" he then tightened his grip on his staff which then caused it to glow slightly.

Ethan then did the same and tightened his grip on his shield which then caused the "horn" on the end of it to extend.

"So am I." Felctro replied as he then flung two energy balls at the duo.

"Let's do it!" Conner yelled.

"Right with you, man."

As the energy ball got close Conner then began to twirl the staff 360 degrees, once the ball was close enough to touch him Conner then batted the ball away to his right where it hit a nearby wastebasket/ash tray, igniting some still warm cigarettes and causing the trash can to burn.

Ethan on the other hand held out his shield in front of him like a battering ram as the second energy ball came at him. Once it connected with his shield Ethan did everything he could to keep the ball from going through. Grunting in exertion he then summoned up enough strength to hurl the energy ball up into the sky where it then exploded into some fireworks.

_Here goes nothing._ Ethan thought as he pointed the "horn" of his shield at the hybrid.

"Blizzard shot!" he commanded.

Once he said it the "horn" on his shield then extended to full maximum and a small bluish ball of light appeared on the tip and began to glow and get bigger. Once it was about as big as Ethan's fist the ball then began to shoot out icicles like a machine gun spitting out bullets.

"What the-?"

Felectro saw the icicles coming at him and laughed to himself as he swiped at them with his right claw, hoping to swat them down. Then he swiped at them with his left, thinking that he swatted all of them with no trouble.

"Ha! Is that the best you can do?"

Ethan just kept firing.

"Well, I guess if you want to play it that way…" Felectro then raised his right claw to swat the oncoming icicles. However, when he raised it he saw that it was covered in ice. Then when he looked at his left claw he saw that it was also covered in ice. However, he didn't have time to figure out how it happened for another round of icicles struck him full on, freezing parts of his body and inflicting damage at the same time.

"Pretty cool, isn't it?" Ethan asked.

Felectro snarled. "Oh, we'll see how cool you think it is when-" he then tried to break out of the ice using his electric powers, but the most he could muster was one static bolt.

"What's going on? How come they won't work?" Felectro asked himself as he tried again to break the ice, but with no success. He was still trying to break it when Ethan leaped at him with a fierce kick that sent him backwards.

"Your body can't take super-low temperatures, pal." Ethan said. "I guess that was a little something Elsa and Mesogog forgot to think about when they created you."

Felectro then looked at his claws, then at the Blue and Red Rangers who seemed to be staring him down.

"You may have knocked me down, but I'm far from out." Felectro growled. He then got on all fours and leaped at them blindingly fast.

Ethan reacted quickly and fired another round of icicles point-blank at the hybrid. Though they hit him with full force, Felectro still kept heading towards the two Rangers. Finally the blows from the icicles and his already frozen claws were beginning to take its toll and the hybrid lost his balance and rolled to the ground. Luckily though he still had enough agility to use the momentum to get back up on his feet, albeit with him breathing heavily out of exhaustion.

"Wind strike!"

The two Rangers and Felectro then turned at the sound of Tommy's voice and saw his Brachio staff emit a powerful gust of wind at the White Ranger clone, knocking it off its feet and sending him flying into the air. The clone then slammed into Felectro, knocking the both of them to the ground.

The White Ranger clone then rolled a little bit as he was reeling from the blow the Black Ranger gave him. Once he stopped rolling the clone then called on an invisiportal and disappeared through it.

"You guys okay?" Trent asked as he, Kira, and Tommy joined the others.

"Never better." Ethan replied. "Although I can't really say the same thing about him though." he then gestured to Felectro, who still had parts of his body frozen as he struggled to get up.

"Then I'd say it's time we break the ice once and for all." Conner said. "Mind if _I _take it from here now, Ethan?"

"Hey, be my guest, bro." Ethan offered as Conner then stepped forward and drew his staff.

"It may be only me against all five of you now, but I'd still say the odds favor me."

"I hate to disappoint you, man." Conner said. "But I'd say this time the odds just turned on you. Tyranno staff, energize!"

And with that Conner then began to twirl the staff left to right and right to left, slowly at first, but then he gained momentum and began to go faster. Finally his staff was glowing a vibrant whitish-red, fully energized and ready.

"I don't mean to steal someone else's line, but, 'Say hello to my little friend', Felectro." Conner quipped. "Tyranno staff, fissure strike!"

He then slammed the head of his staff on the ground, causing the ground to shake somewhat. Then a large energy stream shot from the staff's head in the form of a T-rex and then turned into an energy fissure where it then streaked across the ground right towards Felectro. The hybrid tried to fly out of its path, but his wings were numbed and partly shredded up from Ethan's attacks so it was as if he didn't have his wings at all.

The fissure hit him with full force, causing sparks to erupt out of his body and parts of his skin to char off.

"It worked! Ha-ha!" Conner said ecstatically as he saw the hybrid reel.

"Now _that's_ what I call shakin' it up." Ethan remarked.

--

Meanwhile, Elsa, Kat, and Mesogog were watching the whole thing unfold.

"Looks to me like it's _your_ creature that can't seem to escape." Kat taunted from her seat.

Mesogog turned and hissed at her fiercely. Then all of a sudden the doors to the main room opened and in stepped the White Ranger clone, staggering horribly and exuding smoke from his suit.

"And what are you doing here?" Mesogog demanded. "Why aren't you out there?"

"I've taken…too much damage…need…to…rest…" the clone murmured as he gripped onto the edge of a table to support himself.

Mesogog then fired an energy stream from his forehead at the clone which caused him to grip his head tightly as he writhed in pain from his master's brainwave scrambler.

"You'll have your chance to rest when _I_ say you can rest." Mesogog hissed. "But until I do, you stay out there until those Rangers are nothing but smoke stains in the ground! Understand!"

Now at this point Mesogog had been so focused on getting his point across that he didn't notice that as the White Ranger clone gripped his head the energy stream had deflected off of the clone's morpher and right to where Kat's chair was where the stream hit one of the shackles that kept her strapped there.

Kat saw the shackle open up, but since there were two shackles holding her there, there still wasn't much she could do…or at least for the moment.

"Master,"

"What is it, Elsa?" Mesogog asked as he stopped using his scrambler on the clone, who had then slumped on the floor completely out cold.

"I think you might want to come over here, it appears I found something that you might find interesting."

"What is it?" Mesogog asked again as he walked over to the main computer where Elsa was.

"Well, I've finished doing a bioscan on this human woman and I've found pretty much nothing out of the ordinary. However, I seem to be picking up traces of energies from her brain and muscle cells."

"In essence-Power Ranger energies?"

"In a word, yes." Elsa answered. "But unfortunately since there's only traces of it, they wouldn't be enough to give her a full Ranger power, unlike Dr. Oliver and his protégés."

"Which would explain why she was able to fight off the Tyrannodrones without much trouble and why was able to best even you." Mesogog surmised as he looked at Elsa. "Well, it looks like your suspicions were justified after all." He then looked back to the screen with the readout. _Not enough to give her a full Ranger power, eh?_ he thought to himself. _Hmm. A pity._ he then turned back to where Elsa was. "Well, as interesting as this new information is, unfortunately it can't really be of any use to us. Or at least anymore than the hostage herself anyway."

Elsa raised one eyebrow. "So…does that mean…"

Mesogog nodded. "Yes."

Elsa then smiled wickedly. "It'll be my pleasure."

As Mesogog snarled back he then began to feel his body spasm somewhat. Once the second spasm surged through his body it didn't take much for him to realize Anton Mercer was trying to fight his way out again.

"Master, are you all right?"

"What makes you think I'm not?" Mesogog snapped. "I just need to go take care of a certain inequity at the moment. As before, do what you like with the hostage, but I don't want her alive when I get back." He said as he went off through a pair of doors to another part of his fortress.

Once Elsa saw him disappear through the doors she then turned and walked over to the chair where Kat was strapped in.

"You still like to struggle even when you know it's pointless, don't you?" Elsa asked.

"I've been through worse." Kat said, unflinching.

"Well, you may want to think about those hardships a little more, because once I get through with you, you'll wish you _only_ had those hardships."

Since Elsa was standing next to Kat's left side, where her shackle had been fried by the energy ricochet, all Kat had to do was quickly reach right to where Elsa had her sword holstered and grab it. Elsa's eyes narrowed in surprise and anger, but before she could react Kat quickly unsheathed it and elbowed Elsa square in the gut with the butt of the handle. While the cyborg was gripping her stomach in pain, Kat then raised the sword and brought it down on her right shackle, hoping the blade would slice open the shackle and not her right hand. Luckily for her, the sword did the former, which then allowed Kat to get up from her chair.

Unfortunately once she got up Elsa then raised her right hand and did some kind of telekinetic power to yank her sword out of Kat's hand and back to her own.

"No one…does that…to me!" Elsa hissed as she pointed her sword and fired an energy stream at Kat which she was able to dodge. Now had Elsa been thinking a little more clearly, she would have noticed that she was firing around some delicate equipment. But the fact that she had already been trumped by this woman a few times before plus now had made her lose it somewhat.

Elsa then fired at Kat again, which Kat was able to dodge, but this time the energy stream connected with the Geno-Randomizer/Hydro-regeneration system, which caused the machine to scorch and smoke horribly.

While the machine was smoking Kat then saw that the doors were nearby and quickly made a run for it.

Puzzled that a body wasn't lying on the floor Elsa then looked to the open doors and saw Kat heading down the hall. Gritting her teeth angrily she then tightened her grip on her sword and charged after her.

As Kat made her way through the long hallway she then heard footsteps coming from behind her, and they didn't sound distant at all.

_I've got to find a way out of here._ Kat thought to herself as she kept running. Then as she turned at another corner she then saw an invisiportal appear in front of her. As she looked at it she quickly realized that this had to be how Elsa and co. were able to get to where they needed to go: cafés, downtown squares, parking lots outside restaurants, basically anyplace, anywhere. The question now was, could she use this one to get back to Reefside?

The sound of Elsa's footsteps began to get louder and as Kat looked behind her she saw the cyborg's shadow on the corner.

_No time to weigh your options, Kat. Just go!_

No sooner did Kat's hand touch the portal did she then disappear through it with the portal closing behind her. By the time Elsa got around the corner she didn't see her or the portal closing, so she kept on going down the hall.

_Where did she go?_

"ELSAAAAA!" thundered Mesogog from the main lab.

Once Elsa heard her boss's yell she then wondered what he was yelling about. Then she remembered hitting the Geno-Randomizer/Hydro-Regeneration system on accident while she was trying to kill Kat.

_Uh-oh._

--

As Trent and Kira attacked Felectro again he then growled in pain as he got knocked backwards.

"Good job, guys." Conner complimented as he, Dr. Oliver, and Ethan caught up to them.

"Thanks." Trent replied.

"Then let's put this guy's lights out for good." Ethan suggested.

"You know it, Ethan." Conner said.

So the five Rangers took their respective weapons and combined them into the Z-rex blaster once again.

"Z-rex blaster super mode!"

"Looks like you were wrong, Felectro." Conner said to the hybrid. "It isn't the third time that always the charm. Sometimes it's the fourth. Ready!"

"Aim!" said the others.

"Fire!"

With that command the Z-rex blaster fired a giant energy stream at Felectro. Though the hybrid was weakened beyond reason, he still tried to hold his arms out like he did the last time in an attempt to stop the stream from hitting him. Unfortunately, this time his arms were so badly hurt that he couldn't contain the stream in his claws.

As a result, the stream hit him with tremendous force, causing his body to sizzle out of control and Felectro himself to shriek horribly. Then suddenly his arms dropped to his sides as he looked at the five Rangers with a blank stare in his eyes as he dropped to the ground and exploded.

--

Mesogog was watching the whole thing with a sinister look on his face when Elsa came walking in.

"M-master?"

At the sound of Elsa's voice Mesogog turned and faced her coldly.

"Okay, now before you say anything, just let me explain…"

Mesogog cut her off sharply. "Just…check the Hydro-regenerator and see if it's still operational." he hissed.

Already fearing the worst, Elsa walked over to the Hydro-regenerator's control panel and tried to do a system check on it. The display on the cracked monitor scrambled for a bit, then the words "Power coupling damaged" appeared on the screen. Though they looked a little distorted, Elsa could read it pretty well.

"Well?" Mesogog asked sharply.

Elsa gulped to herself a little, then she turned to her leader.

"So what's the condition on the Hydro-regenerator?"

Elsa sighed. "The main power coupling to the regenerator has been damaged."

Mesogog's eyes darkened at this. "Meaning…?" he asked rhetorically.

"Meaning that until the coupling's repaired, the Hydro-regenerator's useless-"

Mesogog didn't let Elsa finish, for once she said that the regenerator was now useless he then shot his brainwave scrambling beam at Elsa with full force. Elsa grabbed her head as waves of pain flowed through her head.

"Here's a word of advice, Elsa." Mesogog hissed. "The next time you let your personal feelings get in the way of what needs to be done, don't take your frustration out on something that might be useful later." He said as he poured more power into his brainwave scrambler.

_Well, at least right now I have a much better target for my frustrations, or at least for the moment._

--

"We got him. We got him!" Conner said as he punched the air with his fist.

"Now that's stopping him ice cold." Trent said as he complimented Conner and Ethan.

"You can say that again, Trent." Ethan replied.

"You guys did a good job, all of you." Tommy said. "But now we've got to figure out where they took Kat." he finished with a solemn tone as he then stared off into the distance looking at the sky somewhat.

_How could I have been so stupid?_ he thought to himself as he looked down and shook his head. _I should have known…even though, yeah-she would have been pissed at me if I told her to stay back._

Conner then walked over to his teacher and put his hand on his shoulder, followed by the others.

"We'll get her back, Dr. O." he said assuringly.

"Even though, yeah it won't be like she'll-"

Before Ethan could finish his sentence, an invisiportal opened up in front of them and there appeared Kat.

As soon as he saw her Tommy then ran up to her as quickly as he could, covering the distance between them in less than a second.

"Kat!" Tommy said as he finally ran up to where she was.

"Tommy," Kat replied in relief upon seeing him and his protégés.

"Are you all right?" he asked, his tone almost frantic.

Though his face was masked by his helmet, Kat could still somehow see the concern and worry on his face as she heard his voice.

"Yeah," she said as she gave him a warm smile. "I am now."


	21. Interlude between friends

Chapter 20-Interlude between friends

Adam Park rubbed his itchy eyes as he washed up the last of the dishes, of which there were a lot, even though the dinner he and Tanya had was only for two.

"Well," he said as he put the sponge back in the sponge rack near the sink. "That takes care of the dishes."

"Adam, you didn't have to do that." Tanya said as she came up to her boyfriend. "I could have washed the dishes right after we were done eating."

"True, but after this mini-feast you cooked up by yourself I figured the least I can do is wash the dishes for you."

Tanya smiled. "Thanks, Adam." She said as she kissed him on the cheek.

"Come on," she beckoned. "They're giving "King of Queens", and I'm not about to enjoy it by myself." She said with a tone of feigned annoyance.

Adam smiled as he then dried his hands on a paper towel before joining her on the sofa.

After the episode was over Tanya and Adam then heard the phone ringing from the kitchen. Reluctantly Tanya pulled herself away from Adam so she could go and pick it up. "Hello?"

"Tanya!" called Kat's voice excitedly from the other end.

"Oh, hi Kat!" Tanya then gestured to Adam that it was Kat on the phone.

"Hey! Listen, I know I meant to call you the other day, but some things unexpectedly came up and, well…"

"It's okay, I understand."

"Great. In fact, speaking of which, what happened these two days are partly the reason why I'm calling you now."

"What happened?" Tanya asked.

"Well, which part would you like to hear first?"

"How about the good parts?"

"I figured." Kat answered. "Well, for starters, you're not going to believe who I've ran into here at Reefside."

"Johnny Depp?"

"If only," Kat said, feigning a sigh.

"Okay, who?"

"Tommy."

Tanya's eyes widened. "No way."

"Way,"

"Get out of here."

Though she couldn't see her, Tanya could easily imagine Kat shaking her head on the other end.

"I kid you not, Tanya." Kat said. "It was Tommy. Or, should I say _Dr._ Tommy Oliver."

"Doctor? Since when?" Tanya asked in amazement.

"Since he got his Doctorates, I guess."

"Tommy went on to get a Ph. D?" Tanya asked, her eyes widening again.

"By the looks of things, yes." Kat replied.

The moment he heard Tanya mention his old friend's name Adam then got up and walked over to where Tanya was. "Did she say Tommy?"

Since she was still talking into her phone Tanya nodded at Adam to indicate yes.

"And in paleontology, out of all things."

"Paleontology? As in digging up dinosaurs?" Tanya asked. "Well, who'd have thunk? I thought he would have gone on to do racing or something, but paleontology? Did he switch brains with Billy at any point over these years?"

Kat laughed. "No, he didn't. But that had been a few years ago that he had gone to digs and such. Now he's teaching high school science to kids here at Reefside."

"High school science? Okay, _now_ I really need to pay a visit over there."

"You should." Kat agreed. "But that's just the tip of the iceberg, there's a couple more things I think you should know."

"Shoot."

"Tommy's back."

"Wait a minute…are you saying…?"

"Yeah." Kat answered. "He's back in the Power Ranger duds once more; this time in black."

"Oh, well, from the sound of your voice you don't sound like _you're_ complaining." Tanya said mischievously.

Kat blushed. "Well, to be honest, no." she giggled. "In fact, he actually looks cuter in the black duds than in the red duds."

Tanya sighed in exasperation. _Man, even after nine years of not seeing him, she's still got it bad._

"But I take it he's not alone in this, is he?"

"No, not by a long shot." Kat replied. "Now I don't know all the details, but from what I know, four of his students had found four colored rocks which Tommy calls Dino gems. Once they had touched the gems they had somehow bonded to their DNA which gave them their powers and well, the rest is history."

"So it's pretty much the old five-color formula again?" Tanya asked.

"Well, almost." Kat replied. "There's White, Red, Yellow, Blue, and of course, Black, which is Tommy."

"No Pink?"

"No Pink."

"Hmm. That's a first." Tanya mused. "Well, anyway going back to the Tommy subject, where did you run into him?"

"After my first dance class let out yesterday, my boss told me about this Thanksgiving party that was going on at this café called Hayley's cyberspace. Seeing as how I didn't know anybody here I figured, _Why not go check it out?_ Then when I got close to the place, I…saw him."

"So basically you two ran into each other on Thanksgiving?" Tanya asked, incredulous. "Hey, hey, hey, so, that being the case, were you and him able to…have a Thanksgiving of sorts…?" she asked mischievously.

Kat felt herself starting to blush. "Tanya, I just showed up in Reefside two days ago. I mean, I never thought in a million years I'd ever run into him again (no matter how much I wanted to), but then yesterday, right when I saw him again…I don't know, it was almost like…"

"Like nine years hadn't gone by?" Tanya supplied.

Kat sighed in surprise. "Tanya, are you sure you're not psychic?"

"It's like I told you the last time we chatted, girl: best friend's intuition. Now tell me, what happened after you and he had your Danny Zucko/Sandy moment?"

Kat then went on to tell her best friend everything that had transpired in the past two days.

"…So basically we're planning on having a belated Thanksgiving party at Tommy's house tomorrow night." Kat said as she finished her story.

"By 'we' I take it that means all seven of you, right?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Kat replied. "I mean, Conner, Ethan, Kira, Trent and Hayley are as much his friends as anyone, so…"

Tanya nodded. "Well, if it weren't for the fact that I whipped up a mini-feast here at home today for me and Adam, I'd head there myself to enjoy it with all of you guys, but as it is, we're stuffed over here."

"I thought you said you were going to have it over the weekend."

"Yeah, I was, but since Adam got back this afternoon, I figured, what the hell?"

"Oh yeah, I remember you saying he was going to come back today. How is he?"

"Well, he's doing okay, although right now he's trying to pry into our conversation." She said as she gave her boyfriend a semi-warning look, to which Adam mouthed _What?_

"Oh, I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?"

"No, we were just watching some late-night TV, you know, the usual things."

"Well, in that case I think I'll leave you two alone."

Tanya laughed. "Okay, well, I guess I'll talk to you next time. Tell me how the party goes tomorrow, all right?"

"Will do."

"Good night, Kat."

"Good night, Tanya."

"So how's Kat doing?" Adam asked once Tanya hung up the phone. On the way back from Angel Grove Airport Tanya had told Adam about Katherine coming back to the states to teach dance at Reefside.

"She's doing pretty good." Tanya replied.

"Look, I didn't mean to pry before," Adam explained. "It's just that when you hear about a friend you haven't heard from or seen in almost a decade, you do want to know-"

"-how they're doing and whatnot." Tanya supplied with a smile. "Believe me, sweetie. I know that feeling only too well." She said as she put her arms around Adam's neck.

"So what's this about Tommy being a Ranger again?"

Tanya laughed. "Oh, let me tell you a story…"

--

AN: The Danny/Sandy thing was a reference to "Grease" (laughs) couldn't help myself. Besides, I like that movie. Plus Olivia-Newton John was HOT!


	22. A welcoming thanks to remember

Chapter 21-A welcoming thanks to remember

"All right, that should do it." Trent said as he opened the oven and placed the turkey inside.

"So long is it going to take?" Conner asked.

"I'd say about 2 ½ to 3 hours." Trent replied.

"That long?"

"Well, it's a pretty big turkey, y'know." Trent said. "Even though yeah, it's quite small compared to the other ones I saw at Wal-Mart."

"But dude, it's only going to be the seven of us, not twenty-eight."

"I know, but I figured if anyone wants second helpings…"

Conner thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, you do have a point there. But let's just hope those 2 ½ to 3 hours pass by soon, 'cause I'm already getting hungry just thinking about it." Conner said as he stared into the small window of the oven.

"Bro, you're hungry 24/7." Trent pointed out.

"Hey, come on! I'm an athlete, I can't help it."

Trent nodded in agreement. "True." he said. "Oh yeah, by the way, any luck with those sweet potatoes?"

"Well, I'm making progress, I think." Conner replied as he looked at his cutting board with the sweet potatoes sliced up. It had been around 4:00 in the afternoon when Trent had made his way to Dr. Oliver's house to help him get things ready for the small party they were going to have that night. Ethan, Kira, and Conner came by shortly after to lend a hand themselves. When the foursome found that their teacher had no soda available, Ethan volunteered to go to Wal-Mart to get some along with Kira as well. Tommy agreed, and said that he could drop them off while he went to go pick Kat up at her hotel and then pick them up on the way back to his house. Conner on the other hand decided to stay and help Trent prepare the feast, even though he knew next to nothing about cooking. Luckily though Trent was more than willing to show him a few things so he wouldn't be completely lost.

"Whoa, you did pretty good." Trent remarked.

"Thanks." Conner said.

"All right, now all that's left to do with those now is just add cinnamon."

"Cinnamon?"

"Yeah." Trent replied as he reached into the Wal-Mart bag that he brought and pulled out a small plastic container with cinnamon inside it. "I know it sounds a little weird, but believe it or not, the potatoes actually taste better with this added to it."

"Mmm. Sweet." Conner mused.

"You can say that again." Trent said.

"So how much of this do we put?"

"Just sprinkle it on the potato and count to 3, but don't put _too_ much though. Just put enough so when we put it in the oven, it'll settle into the potato itself so that way when you're eating it, it won't be like, _oh, I can only get the cinnamon on the top,_ you know?"

"For some reason, that actually made sense to me." Conner said as he unscrewed the cap and began to sprinkle the cinnamon onto the potatoes, following it more or less the same way Trent showed him to.

Once he was done Conner then showed it to Trent, who took a look at it and okayed it.

"All right. Looks like it's time to put them in."

"In the oven?" Conner asked.

"Yep." Trent then took the gloves that were lying on the counter and handed them to his friend. "Here."

Conner's eyes narrowed. "Me?" he asked, pointing to himself.

"No, the other Conner standing next to you." Trent said sarcastically.

"You seriously want me to put these in the oven?"

"Conner, you said you wanted to help, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"Well then, come on. Do the honors, man."

Swallowing his pride Conner put the gloves on and took the oven pan with the sweet potatoes on them (with aluminum foil, of course) while Trent took some spare gloves so he could open the oven door and pull out the top rack since the turkey was on the bottom one.

Once Conner put the pan on the rack, he and Trent then closed the oven.

"There, now that wasn't too hard, was it?" Trent asked.

"No, not really." Conner replied. "So how long do those take?"

"Only an hour." Trent said as he snuck a peak at his watch.

"Well, that's a relief." Conner said as he wiped his brow. "So what do we do now?"

"We wait."

--

Tommy was fidgeting nervously to himself as he walked up to the door of Kat's suite.

_Come on Tommy, take it easy._ He thought to himself. _It's just a small party, not anything else…_

Despite the fact that he was trying to convince himself to calm down, Tommy couldn't stop his hand from trembling somewhat. Even as he tried to knock on the door he was already beginning to sweat bullets on his forehead. Finally after taking a few deep breaths he then knocked on the door.

Kat almost jumped at the sound of the knock as she was trying to figure out what to wear. Even though she, like everyone else knew that it could be casual.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"It's me, Tommy."

_Oh, thank God._ Kat thought, her heart rate going up a few notches.

"Can I come in?"

"Just…give me a few minutes Tommy." Kat said as she fiddled through some of the clothes she had taken out of her suitcase.

"Oh, all right." Tommy said.

A few minutes later the door opened and as Tommy saw her standing in the doorway he had to blink his eyes twice. She was wearing a denim jacket with a light pink T-shirt underneath with blue jeans. Her blonde hair had been curled up a bit so it had a wavy look to it and hung around her shoulders nicely and she had very little makeup on. Even though she was dressed pretty casually, she still looked very beautiful.

"Wow." Tommy said which immediately caused Katherine and him to blush beet red and stay in a flustered silence for a few seconds.

"So…um…are you…ready to go?"

"Uh-yeah." Kat said, doing her best to stay calm, although inside her heart was beginning to beat a little bit faster.

"All right, come on." And with that Tommy then led Kat to his jeep which was parked in the parking lot.

"So are the others already there?"

"Sort of," Tommy replied. "I dropped Ethan and Kira off at Wal-Mart to get some soda 'cause we were pretty much out. And Hayley's talking to the people at some glass repair company to see if they were able to fix that broken window, so we'll be picking them up on the way."

"What about Conner and Trent?"

"They chose to stay at the house to see if they could try and get the food ready somewhat."

"They know how to cook?" Kat asked.

"Well, Trent does. Or so I've seen."

Once they arrived at Wal-Mart, they found Ethan and Kira waiting for them by a bench outside one of the main doors.

"Hi, Dr. O, hi Miss Hillard." Ethan said as he and Kira got on the back seats of the jeep.

"Hi, guys." Kat replied sweetly.

"So, what did you guys get?" Tommy asked.

"Well, we got one bag of Tosito's tortilla chips, one Sprite bottle, one Dr. Pepper, and one Coca-cola." Kira said.

"Great. Well, let's head to Hayley's and then we'll head to my place."

"Wait, Conner's not here?" Ethan asked.

"No, he stayed to help Trent prepare the food." Tommy said.

"Well, if weren't for Trent being there as well I would probably be waving the red flag right about now." Ethan said.

"Why's that?" Kat asked.

"Well, it's just that Conner's not a cook-savvy guy, so let's just hope Trent can keep him from unintentionally blowing up the house."

"Let's hope." Tommy said as he quickly switched to drive.

--

"Hah-ha!" Conner yelled at the TV screen which was giving a game between Manchester United and Chelsea. "That's giving it to them!"

"What's going on?" Trent asked as he stepped from the kitchen to the living room.

"Manchester scored 3-1, and there's only ten minutes left in the second half."

"All right." Trent said enthusiastically as he took a closer look at the TV.

"You know, thank God Dr. O's got satellite."

"I'll second that."

DING-DONG!

Conner and Trent looked at each other. "It's probably them." Conner said.

"I'll go check on the food." Trent said as he went back into the kitchen.

Conner then got up from the sofa and walked up to the door. Once he opened it he saw Hayley, Tommy, Kat, Kira, and Ethan standing in the door.

"Surprise!" Ethan said sarcastically.

"Hi guys." Conner said. "Hi, Miss Hillard."

"Hi, Conner." Kat said.

"So, were you guys able to get what we needed?"

"Of course." Ethan said as he raised up both his arms, which held the bags containing the chips and soda.

"Now I take it you guys didn't blow up anything, right?" Tommy asked in a tone that was half sarcastic, half serious.

"Dr. O!"

"Just checking."

"Look, just because I can't cook doesn't mean I'm accident-prone in the kitchen." Conner said as he closed the door.

"Well, something smells great in here!" Kat said as she helped Ethan put the bags down on the dining room table.

"That would be the sweet potatoes." Trent said from the kitchen as he reached in and pulled out the sweet potatoes from the oven.

"Is the turkey done? I'm starving!"

"Conner, do you think maybe you could be just a little more patient?" Kira asked. "Trent's on top of it."

"I know, I know, it's just…it's just that my stomach's starting to drive me crazy, that's all."

"Okay guys." Trent said as he walked over to where the others were. "The sweet potatoes are done, but it'll probably take another half hour for the turkey to finish."

_Damn it!_ Conner thought.

"Bro, just grit your teeth." Ethan suggested. "It'll probably be done before you know it."

Within a half hour the turkey was finished. Ethan, Trent, Conner, and Tommy went to work laying the food out on the table in a sort of buffet while Hayley, Kat, and Kira set the dining room table.

Once everything was done, Conner couldn't help but salivate as he stared at the turkey.

"Uh-I don't suppose I could have a quick taste, could I doc?" Conner asked.

"No." Tommy said.

"Oh, come on! It'll be just a quick taste."

"Dude, your quick taste would be the entire turkey." Ethan said. "Plus we'd be lucky if you even left us with some dark meat."

"Okay, okay. Just asking."

Once everyone took their seats at the table Tommy then stood up and faced everyone. "Now before we eat, there is something I want to say." He then took a deep breath before continuing. "Well, for starters I would like to say thanks to everyone for coming. Now I admit, this was something you guys didn't have to do, but as Ethan put it best, 'We're friends as well as a team.' And in a lot of ways that really means a lot to me; more than you realize. And as such I would like to give thanks to all of you guys-Conner, Ethan, Kira, Trent, and Hayley for being probably the best friends/protégés/comrades I never thought I could ever have. And most importantly I would also like to extend a warm welcome to a very dear friend of mine, Katherine." He continued as he looked at Kat, who was sitting right next to him and gave her a warm smile. "Now I know that these past few days have been a little bit 'interesting' but with all that aside, on behalf of all of us-" _Myself included._ "-Welcome to Reefside, Kat."

Kat felt her eyes begin to water a little bit. "Tommy, I…I don't know what to say."

"Tommy smiled brightly as he unconsciously found himself staring right into Kat's beautiful sapphire eyes again. "It's okay, you don't have to."

_Good grief! Why doesn't he just kiss her already?_ Conner thought.

Tommy then took a paper cup that already had soda in it and raised it into the air. "Happy Thanksgiving, everyone." He said. "Here here."

"Here here." Everyone said as they raised their own cups.

"All right, let's dig in."

Conner sighed in relief. "Finally!"

As everyone then began to get their food Kat then began to think about everything that had happened from the moment she arrived in Reefside to now. As far as she was concerned fate _definitely_ had a way of working in mysterious ways; originally she had arrived in Reefside hoping to make yet another fresh start in her life, not even knowing that Tommy happened to live _in_ Reefside and that he taught at the high school there, much less end up running into him again.

Not only that, but she discovered that through a series of events Tommy had not only become a Ranger mentor to four high school students but he also ended up finding his own Dino gem, thus reigniting his Ranger past once more and being an even greater help to his protégés.

As she pondered this she then began to wonder if this had been what her instincts had been telling her to do back when she was contemplating going back to America to teach dance. Now as she looked from Tommy's students (seeing them laugh and talk), to Hayley, who just shook her head in amusement…to Tommy who then looked from his protégés to her, Kat realized that her instincts had been right all along.

As she smiled back at Tommy, it was then that Kat realized that once again, her life would never be the same.

--

AN: Just in case you were wondering, Tommy was looking at Kat, not Hayley (But if you knew that, ignore this sentence). Well, here it is, my Christmas present to you guys: the final chapter of my fic. Now don't start crying, folks. I may be done with this fic, but I'm far from being done with Tommy/Kat. Now that she's here in Reefside (which those blasted producers _should_ have done in the show), things are really going to get interesting around here. Now I can't tell you what I have planned, but I will tell you guys and girls to stay tuned, for the sequel to this story is coming soon to a PR fanfic archive near you. But while I'm getting that fic ready, I think I'll take a break for a few days so I can enjoy the holidays. Well, without further ado, this is Danny, aka Ultra Sonic wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! (Feliz Navidad y Feliz Ano Nuevo!)


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